Albin Kaelin is the founder, owner, and CEO of EPEA Switzerland GmbH, a position he has held since establishing the company in 2009. He has been a driving force in the development and implementation of the Cradle to Cradle® design concept across various sectors. His pioneering work dates back to 1993 when he initiated the development of the Climatex® product line, which produced the world’s first Cradle to Cradle® products. The Cradle to Cradle® design creates recyclable products by maintaining the quality of raw materials over multiple product life cycles. Unlike conventional recycling, it treats all materials as nutrients, to be used in defined cycles at the right time and place. Over the years, Albin Kaelin’s leadership and innovative spirit have been widely recognized. Since 2022, he has been honored with more than 30 awards, including the IE100 Award (2024 and 2025) and being named Most Innovative CEO of the Year. As an author, he has contributed influential works such as The European Climate Change: A Book for the Businesses of Tomorrow and From Rebel to Radical Innovator; Leading the Transformation through Circularity. Through EPEA Switzerland GmbH, Kaelin supports companies across diverse industries in adopting and implementing the Cradle to Cradle® design concept. With an experienced, international, and interdisciplinary management team, the company has successfully carried out projects worldwide.
At the core of his work are Cradle to Cradle® design innovations, which define and develop fully cyclable products. These innovations differ from conventional recycling by ensuring that the quality of raw materials is preserved over several life cycles and that only chemicals assessed as safe are used. Production processes, product use, and cycling are modeled to maintain raw material quality—ensuring no waste, as everything becomes a nutrient, used in the right cycles, at the right time, and in the right place.