by Lukas on 8 May 2024

Podcast Episode 38 is out: Matt Semmelhack from Boox

the impact of 200 billion packages a year

Matt Semmelhack, founder of Boox, is on a mission to reinvent our relationship with cardboard shipping boxes. Boox is a reusable box and shipping system designed to make reuse fun and cool. The conversation explores Matt’s background, the urgency around climate change, and the need for systemic change in waste and packaging. They discuss the challenges of reducing waste in the e-commerce industry, the concept of reduce, reuse, recycle, and the importance of making reuse easy and affordable. Matt shares insights into the circular economy and the chicken-and-egg problem of building the infrastructure for reusable products. He highlights the importance of reducing waste and the environmental impact of single-use packaging. Matt also emphasises the need for convenience and ease of use in order to encourage consumer participation in reuse. He shares the growth of Boox and the validation they have received from both large companies and small businesses.

We discuss:

• Boox is a reusable box and shipping system designed to make reuse fun and cool.
• The e-commerce industry generates a staggering number of packages each year, with cardboard boxes being the most commonly used.
• The current approach to waste and packaging focuses too much on recycling and not enough on reducing and reusing.
• The challenge is to get consumers to participate in the reuse process and make it easy and affordable.
• Building the infrastructure for reusable products is a chicken-and-egg problem that requires collaboration between companies and consumers. Reusable packaging systems can help reduce waste and the environmental impact of single-use packaging.
• Convenience and ease of use are crucial in encouraging consumer participation in reuse.
• Validation from both large companies and small businesses is important for the growth and success of sustainable initiatives.
• Adopting secondhand clothing is a simple and impactful change that anyone can make to reduce waste.

Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com

You can listen to the podcast here: