Jokey and circolution are working alongside Kaffee Braun to pilot reusable polypropylene buckets for industrial applications – designed to be stacked, reused in high circulation volumes, and recycled at end-of-life.
First showcased at interpack 2026 in Düsseldorf, the buckets are designed to be integrated into existing industrial processes with minimal effort. According to Jokey, their adoption requires zero modification to existing filling lines ‘in many cases’.
Their mono-polypropylene design is set to align with high standards for cleaning and hygiene, with the absence of a handle expected to streamline its washability. Drainage holes in the rim are also intended to prevent water from building up in the container after the cleaning process.
“With our new reusable buckets, we show that future requirements can not only be met, but translated into practical and economically viable packaging solutions,” says Ramona Lob, leader Business Unit Reusable Packaging at the Jokey Group. “Our key objective is to make reuse as simple as possible and to keep the entry barrier for our customers low.”
Jokey goes on to highlight the importance of reuse as a system, rather than a packaging design alone. It has tasked circolution with organizing return logistics, cleaning, storage, transport, tracking and reporting processes for industrial operations.
Tracking, in particular, is expected to unlock the clear identification of containers, monitoring across circulation cycles, and the transparent documentation of availability and inventories across the supply chain.
“Reusable packaging is not a product, but a system,” continues Maximilian Bannasch, co-founder of circolution GmbH. “Only when return logistics, cleaning, availability, storage processes, transparency and data work together reliably does reuse become truly practical for companies in their day-to-day operations. That is exactly the operational foundation we are creating.”
As a long-time Jokey customer, coffee roastery Kaffee Braun is conducting a pilot project to test how the new buckets work in practice.
“For us, it was important that the solution is not only designed with the future in mind, but also works in everyday operations,” adds Jonas Braun, managing director of Kaffee Braun GmbH. “Jokey’s new reusable bucket fits well into our processes and is a meaningful step toward making our packaging more durable and future-ready.”
At launch, the reusable buckets will be available in 5L square, 5L round, and 10L square versions. Kaffee Braun plans to adopt the latter in the future.
Earlier this year, Royal Flora Holland launched its own reusable bucket for transporting flowers. This format is hoped to address retailer needs by lowering supply chain costs, reducing handling requirements across the supply chain, and eliminating around 250,000 kg of cardboard every year.
Since then, Cambrian Packaging has unveiled a range of barrier buckets for solvent- and water-based products, complete with a 100% post-consumer recycled liner. The liner is intended to improve the packaging’s barrier properties, maintain its stability against reactive materials, and preserve the product’s quality over months in storage.
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