$600 Million CEO Starts From Home 'Solo'

Exactly nineteen months ago, Ludo Guillén was in charge as CEO of Schoeller Allibert, a company specializing in industrial plastic packaging. Today he is there again. He wants to conquer the world with sustainable packaging from his startup BoxxBack.

It all started for Ludo Guillen (51 years old) in 1996 in his parents' living room. The entrepreneur was already working on innovative packaging solutions. In 2004, he sold his company Basic Industrial Plastic Pallets to Schoeller Arca Systems, which became Schoeller Allibert after its merger with Linpac Allibert. Gelin remained on the board and held various management positions, before being appointed global CEO of the company in 2018, which today has an important branch in Limburg. However, in 2022, he closed the door behind Schuler Allebert for personal reasons. He then left behind a company with a turnover of €600 million and employing 1,800 people at eleven production sites.

Time for a new chapter. Because a few days after his non-compete clause expired, he and his wife, Nathalie Rega, sat down at a notary to start his new company: BoxxBack. Just as it did in 1996, the story now begins in Gillen's home, not in the living room, but in the home office. “We started as a small startup,” says Gillen, who does not lack ambition. “It worked then, and I'm convinced it will work now.”

On the Box Pack website Companies searching for sustainable packaging currently find about 125 products for retail, distribution and production. Currently, these packages are provided by other manufacturers. “Every one of them comes from the European Union, because if they come from far away, there's not much sustainability left,” says Gelin.

No more cardboard
Jilin's ambition goes beyond simply distributing existing products. This is just the beginning stage. “We also want to quickly develop and produce our own innovative products,” he adds. BoxxBack helps companies from the conception and design stage to the development, production and recovery of circular products. Moreover, we also aim to produce these products in our own factory in Limburg. Gelin hopes to start doing so this General.

Sustainability and circularity are key. “There is still a lot of cardboard packaging today. Our ambition is to put an end to the use of single-use packaging for good. Our packaging can be reused infinitely, and when it is not used, it is returned to us and is completely recyclable. No green bleaching, Rather, it is a tangible and measurable contribution to the circular economy.