Swiss Post acquires Kickbag GmbH, promoting sustainable packaging

23.12.2022 | from Die Schweizerische Post AG

23.12.2022, As online retail booms, the use of packaging is also increasing. Swiss Post has set itself ambitious sustainability targets, and wants to do its bit to promote sustainable packaging solutions. It acquired St Gallen-based company Kickbag GmbH, a small, innovative business that offers resuable packaging, on 16 December 2022. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price or conditions of the acquisition.

Online retail is booming. People in Switzerland are ordering more and more of their shopping online, which they have delivered conveniently to their homes. However, with convenience comes more packaging, in other words cardboard, paper and plastic that either ends up at recycling stations or in the bin. Studies show that people who order goods online are becoming increasingly convinced that shipping should be sustainable. More and more, customers are calling for eco-friendlier packaging and emission-free shipping. For a lot of consumers, sustainability has become an important purchase criterion in many instances. As a logistics company, Swiss Post can help online retailers with sustainable packaging solutions.

A logical step that helps online retailers
Swiss Post wants to contribute towards more sustainable packaging solutions. Various projects looking at reusable packaging are already underway, all with the aim of promoting the circular economy. And it is precisely this area where St Gallen-based company Kickbag GmbH offers a smart solution, as it has done together with Swiss Post since it was founded in 2020.

The “Kickbag” is a reusable packaging solution for online retail. It is a sealable bag made of recycled PET or plastic. What makes the shipping bag so unique is the fact it can be reused up to 30 times. This means you can either use it to return the product, or you can send it back to the retailer free of charge using one of Swiss Post’s letter boxes. Swiss Post has been the logistics partner of Kickbag GmbH ever since the latter was founded. With this reusable bag, Swiss Post wants to help online retailers provide more sustainable shipping. For this reason, the company has decided to continue promoting this smart Kickbag solution, and to integrate it into its own structures. This prompted Swiss Post to take over the company on 16 December 2022. “Logistics is quite simply our core competency. We collect and deliver goods to millions of households in Switzerland daily. It makes sense for us to also take back packaging and to focus on reusable solutions,” says Johannes Cramer, Head of Logistics Services and Member of Executive Management. “Integrating the Kickbag into our range of services is a logical move. By doing so, we are helping online retailers and the general population to establish a circular economy in Switzerland and to make sending goods more sustainable.”

Ambitious sustainability targets
A sustainable future for the next generation is a key concern for Swiss Post. And, from 2030, Swiss Post’s entire fleet will use alternative drive systems. Swiss Post obtains its electricity from 100 percent renewable energy sources from Switzerland. Additionally, it is harnessing the potential of the large roofs on its logistics centers, and is increasingly doing the same with building façades. In fact, it operates some of the largest photovoltaic systems in Switzerland.

Contact:
Léa Wertheimer
Swiss Post Media
Unit, 058 341 08 84
presse@swisspost.ch

--- END press release Swiss Post acquires Kickbag GmbH, promoting sustainable packaging ---

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