I built a bunch of boxes for a Vic ski resort years ago and used the guys at Dotmar. They were super informative about the products you can get. Can also use UHMWPE.
We used to always have ply underneath the HDPE but for some projects overseas we used thicker HDPE with no ply, just a few more cross supports. This worked out to be lighter.
The key for longevity is how you fix it to the rail/box/kicker. Dotmar can give you the details.
www.dotmar.com.au/index.php