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Success stories from North Rhine-Westphalia

rhinopaq GmbH

Making shipping more sustainable:

All too often, goods are shipped in single-use packaging. The Essen-based company rhinopaq wants to change that. The startup launched a reusable packaging solution in 2023 and aims to establish a circular economy, primarily in the B2B sector. According to the company, rhinopaq boxes can be reused at least 20 times. This saves costs, emissions, and resources.

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The challenge

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Matthias Thesing, like so many others, spent months working from home in an apartment building in Essen. "I noticed that the blue recycling bin in the building was always full," recalls the mechanical engineer, "and shipping packaging accounted for most of the volume." He began to think about how shipping goods could be made more sustainable. At that time, Thesing was still employed, but he and his colleague Marc Diefenbach had already been considering changing employers or starting their own company with a social impact. In 2021, they took the plunge. Their business idea: reusable packaging for shipping goods. Because the more they delved into the topic of packaging, the more they realized the enormous potential for resource conservation it held. "One in four industrially felled trees is used for packaging; wood consumption exceeds sustainable supply by 66 percent," Thesing explains, "and we wanted to change that."

Commissioned by:

  • Photos: Product photos : rhinopaq GmbH, Double portrait : Essen Chamber of Industry and Commerce
  • Text: Lothar Schmitz, business journalist, Bonn
  • Publication: April 2025

Matthias Thesing & Marc Diefenbach, CEOs of rhinopaq

“One in four industrially felled trees is used for packaging; wood consumption exceeds sustainable supply by 66 percent – ​​we wanted to change that.”

The innovation

And so Thesing and Diefenbach entered the packaging business. They developed a concept for a reusable shipping system, initially for the B2C sector, meaning shipping to private individuals. However, they realized that returning the packaging in this case proved too difficult. In 2023, they therefore set their sights on the B2B segment, founded their startup rhinopaq, and developed reusable packaging for regular business-to-business shipping. The boxes are made of polypropylene, 60 percent of which is recycled material. This is initially less environmentally friendly than cardboard packaging. The appeal lies in their multiple uses, as the plastic boxes are robust. "With 20 cycles, you can save 40 percent on costs, 60 percent on CO2 emissions , and 95 percent on waste," the two founders calculated. Their startup has already attracted well-known corporate clients, including two manufacturers of high-quality bicycles. These companies use rhinopaq reusable packaging to ship bicycle parts to retailers. Instead of being disposed of, the packaging is folded, collected, bundled, and returned to rhinopaq. The company cleans and refurbishes the packaging before lending it out again. rhinopaq calls this "Pay-per-Use Collect." The alternative is "Pay-per-Box." In this case, rhinopaq sells shipping boxes to shippers. These boxes are used in a closed B2B supply chain between the shipping company and the receiving businesses. In 2023 and 2024, rhinopaq produced and distributed approximately 13,000 packages. This number is expected to increase.

40
Cost savings
60
CO2 savings
95
Waste reduction

The NRW effect/The location

The Essen-based startup feels at home in its location. "North Rhine-Westphalia is a very good and innovative location when it comes to the circular economy," praises company founder Matthias Thesing. He particularly commends the "Circular Valley" initiative, which aims to establish the extended Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region as a global center for the circular economy. However, it's not the only network from which the young company benefits. "We also see ourselves as part of greentech.ruhr and appreciate the innovative strength gathered within this network," says Thesing. Furthermore, rhinopaq feels a connection to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia because of its diverse funding landscape. For example, Marc Diefenbach was able to utilize the NRW startup grant, and he and his co-founder also benefit from the win Business Angels initiative of NRW.BANK. At the end of 2024, the young company also learned that it was among the winners of the 2024 Essen Environmental Award. In the special "Fairtrade" prize, which is awarded to Fairtrade projects and actions that encourage imitation, as well as to projects for the sustainable use of resources, the Essen-based company rhinopaq GmbH achieved first place, endowed with 3,000 euros.

This success story of an innovative transformation was published in April 2025. No updates or reviews of the information have taken place since then.

More on the topic of the environment

Transformation through innovation

Background of the publication series

The publication series “Transformation through Innovation” aims to illustrate how companies in North Rhine-Westphalia have been able to write successful innovation stories thanks to the framework conditions created by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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