Start-up ze:Box aims to make shipping sustainable with deposit boxes

In Germany, over 4 billion package cartons are shipped annually. A large part of this is to be replaced by the Baden-Württemberg start-up ze:BOX through a system of foldable reusable boxes. According to the company, this saves over a million tons of CO2 per year. The plastic used for the boxes is locally sourced and at least one third comes from recycled plastic.

(Engen) “Every German knows deposit systems from a young age,” notes Chief Box Officer Jens Laufer. “At the same time, we are world champions in producing paper waste. We said to ourselves: This doesn’t fit, we need to tackle this!”

The business model of ze:BOX is based on simplicity, participation, and pay-per-use: “Basically, it’s a deposit bottle, just in a square shape,” Laufer smiles, “with the small difference that I can also pick it up empty and fill it myself.” Through the approximately 55,000 package shops in Germany, ze:BOX will be collected and distributed to private individuals; in the future, it will mainly be fulfillment centers, online retailers, and logistics companies that will ship their B2C packages in ze:BOXes of various sizes. To this end, the company is testing the shipping and return process and its specially developed management and billing app for package shops in pilot regions during the first phase. In the next steps, the system is to be gradually rolled out nationwide.

The customer pays a deposit and a usage fee for the use of the box. The deposit is refunded, and a portion of the usage fee goes to the package shop or the commercial sender. Partners will be involved in the profits of ze:BOX.

Interest from cities and municipalities

Ze:BOX is also attracting interest from cities and municipalities: The issue of waste volume is high on the agendas. Since cardboard packaging accounts for a large part of paper waste, the introduction and promotion of ze:BOX provides a significant lever for regions in implementing zero-waste strategies. +

Photo: © Ze:BOX