Boox, the sustainable platform providing consumers and retailers with zero-waste, circular shipping solutions, today announces the expansion of its services to the UK and the introduction of a new product to further power its circular economy system.
For Boox’s inception into the UK, the company will be sharing a space with another local packaging company, Tri-Pack, which is located in the seaside town of Grimsby in Lincolnshire, which since 2020, has been home to the world’s largest offshore wind farm. To further the region’s green credentials and support its local economy, Boox intends to continue driving Grimsby’s development by hiring locally, and positioning the area as a hub for the growing recommerce industry.
Named as one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2021, Boox’s affordable, easy-to-use, and scalable system enables companies to reuse shipping supplies and eliminate waste from the e-commerce cycle. In 2020, the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs reported that UK parcels were producing 5.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard waste. The company’s first reusable shipping option, the Boox Box, allows retailers to cut down the environmental impact of normal cardboard boxes by 70 percent or more after 10 shipments. With its latest expansion into the UK, Boox will offer its reusable shipper services, including Boox Boxes and newest product, the Boox Baag, to direct-to-consumer (DTC) clients.
Boox, which saw its shipment volume grow by 10x in 2021, is known in the U.S. for its partnerships with beloved consumer brands such as athletics apparel company, Lululemon, sustainable denim brand Boyish Jeans, and beauty brand, Ouai. The expansion follows Boox’s ongoing success and growth in America. To gather early traction in the UK market, Unilever-owned brand, REN Clean Skincare, will act as a key launch partner for Boox, following a strong partnership in the US since early 2021.
The company’s newly-expanded services in the UK will maintain Boox’s elevated level of eco-consciousness and ease-of-use. Its dedication to the social and environmental good recently led to its B Corporation certification, speaking to the company’s high standards of transparency, accountability, and overall performance. To achieve this status, Boox has surpassed rigorous analyses and testing to meet environmental and social guidelines.
Similar to the Boox Box, the Boox Baag is designed to be recovered from consumers and reused hundreds of times. While the original Boox Box caters to shipping beauty products, shoes, gear, and lifestyle products, the Boox Baag was developed specifically as a solution for clothing and apparel. Boox Baags are available in a variety of colours and sizes, are made from durable, recycled and recyclable materials, and can be custom printed with branded graphics.
How it works:
- Boox’s retail partners ship orders DTC as usual, with minimal operational changes
- All Boox Boxes and Baags feature a QR code inside the shipper which links to digital instructions that guide consumers through the returns process via one of 3,000+ InPost Lockers across the UK.
- Once returned to Boox HQ, Boxes and Baags are carefully refurbished and then re-distributed to partners to be reused over and over again, drastically reducing the need for manufacturing new shipping products.
- When a Boox product does reach the end of its life cycle, it is broken down to its raw materials and efficiently recycled back into another Boox Box or Baag.
“Our UK launch comes at an exciting time as it will enable us to expand our services to hundreds of brands that are looking for a more sustainable way to ship products to their consumers,” comments Matt Semmelhack, CEO and Co-Founder of Boox. “Ultimately, we plan to replicate our U.S. headquarters, a 20,000 square foot facility hosting operations that we call our ‘Reuse Hub’, which is also used as offices for our tech workers (engineers, salespeople, marketing, and design). We have partnered with a local company, Tri-pack, in Lincolnshire, as we scale up the business. The ultimate goal is to inspire all brands and consumers to accelerate a global transition to the circular economy and our team is hard at work on what will be a long journey. We’re thrilled by the progress, expansion, and trajectory we’re on towards a cleaner world that consumers are also a core part of.”
“When it comes to the environment, REN’s philosophy has always been collaboration over competition (WeAreAllies), and it is as much about employing sustainable processes, as it is about developing sustainable products. Ultimately, by being transparent and working with innovative and ethical partners, we can address the issues surrounding waste and emissions faster and more efficiently. Working with Boox has enabled us to employ more sustainable delivery practices, achieve our zero-waste pledge and provide consumers with the best tools to be able to effect long-term environmental change. We’re excited to be expanding our partnership to the UK to help continue keeping our packaging out of landfills. We take a holistic approach to sustainability and look forward to continuing making changes around product, ingredients and packaging to bring more world firsts to the beauty consumer.” adds, AJ Patel, Global Head of E-Commerce at REN Clean Skincare
Boox’s ethos prioritises the planet at its core and in its operations by providing corporations and consumers with a solution to one of the largest causes of waste in our society. According to the Global Sustainability Study 2021, one-third of consumers are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products, and globally, sustainability is rated as an important criteria for 60 percent of consumers, showing the rapid movement toward environmentally-responsible purchasing. Compared to other competitors in the e-commerce space, Boox provides a more affordable and customisable solution for its clients, in addition to the positive benefits and consumer feedback from using a sustainable and eco-friendly solution. With this latest expansion, Boox is on track to ship one million reusable Boxes in 2022.
For more information on Boox, please visit www.boox.eco.