Online retail is experiencing massive growth, not least due to the Corona pandemic. However, most goods are shipped in cardboard boxes, which in turn are then shredded and disposed of as waste paper. Matthias Thesing and Marc Diefenbach from Essen want to do something about this additional burden on the environment and founded the startup "Rhinopaq" in 2021. Their idea is a reusable shipping box that is primarily intended for classic online retail.
The principle is simple: Retailers ship their goods in the reusable boxes. When the recipient has received the shipment and keeps it, the box can simply be folded up and then dropped into any Deutsche Post mailbox. In this way, the reusable box finds its way back to "Rhinopaq", which has already paid the postage in advance. After a careful inspection of the box, it can be made available to the next online retailer.
Currently, twelve retailers are already using the startup's offer. In a next step, the young entrepreneurs would also like to convince supermarkets or retailers of their product. A box can be used up to 20 times before it has to be disposed of. However, it already provides an ecological benefit after its third use compared to the conventional shipping box, according to "Rhinopaq".
