Case Study: Scandinavian Biolabs Tackles Plastic Pollution

Scandinavian Biolabs is an innovative company focusing its efforts on natural solutions to hair loss. According to the company itself, it's founded on the virtues of natural functionality, transparency, and real impact — and the same goes for its sustainability efforts.   

It's striving to produce products that are not only health-conscious but environmentally conscious too. And although Scandinavian Biolabs acknowledge it isn't a fully sustainable beauty company yet, it's made some incredible progress.

We sat down with the brand’s Co-Founder, Christian Harboe, and Creative Lead, Andraz Strgar, to explore their journey to sustainability.

Here's what they had to say.

What's on this page?

Meet Scandinavian Biolabs

Scandinavian Biolabs produces high-quality products that tackle a problem many people around the world face: hair loss. 

By harnessing the power of stem cell technology, it uses a clean formulation to foster healthier hair cells, reducing hair loss by 57% after only 150 days, and vowing to help customers make more informed decisions about their overall health and haircare.

For Christian and Andraz, it has always been a top priority to continuously improve their processes and work towards creating a positive, lasting impact. They have worked closely with top industry experts and developed a range of reliable products made from non-toxic, naturally derived ingredients, and plant-based materials. 

As a brand, Scandinavian Biolabs is committed to using resources mindfully. While developing its range of products, it steers clear of potentially harmful ingredients, ensuring the health and well-being of both its consumers and the planet.

How Scandinavian Biolabs is working towards a greener tomorrow

When it comes to the well-being of our planet, Scandinavian Biolabs means business.  It's mainly focused on implementing more sustainable practices across four key areas: Ingredients, production, shipping, and plastic consumption.

The company's product bottles and labels are now locally produced in Denmark, to keep its carbon footprint as low as possible. It's also switched to new, more sustainable cardboard boxes certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. This added 'tick tree logo' means that for every tree cut down, a new sapling is planted in its place. 

And it's replaced shipping boxes with smaller, more compact options complemented with eco-friendly paper filling.

Sustainability has also been woven into company marketing efforts. Instead of giving typical product discounts to encourage consumer consumption for Black Friday, it launched a #SavetheReefs campaign, donating 10% of sales to Reefscapers — an NGO dedicated to preserving marine life.

How Scandinavian Biolabs minimizes plastic waste

60% of shoppers are now looking for ethical, eco-friendly brands that put people and the planet ahead of profits, according to Accenture’s Global Consumer Pulse Survey. Scandinavian Biolabs customers are no different.

The team received feedback highlighting unnecessary plastic waste in packaging and encouraging them to make more changes and improvements.

It’s unrealistic for many businesses to stop using plastic overnight. Making a complete transition away from this affordable and much-used material requires time — the one thing that our oceans don't have — and more innovation in alternative packaging.

So the team decided to take on a new quest to compensate for the plastic they use in their products. 

And in 2022, Scandinavian Biolabs committed to becoming plastic neutral by partnering with CleanHub. For every kilogram of plastic used in their hair care business, CleanHub recovers 1kg from the environment. 

Scandinavian Biolabs's partnership with CleanHub

Transparency has always been at the core of the Scandinavian Biolabs sustainability strategy. It was important to them to find a partner that would not only accelerate their impact but also help them communicate their efforts authentically.

Through CleanHub’s live impact report, Scandinavian Biolabs can easily show their activities on the ground, the ongoing progress of waste collection, and their positive impact in real time.

"People need statistics; they need to see numbers and need you as a brand to acknowledge that part of your business that is not sustainable and show what you're doing about it." - Christian Harboe, co-founder of Scandinavian Biolabs

Joining the CleanHub network means being a part of a movement and connecting to other like-minded, purpose-led organizations dedicated to making a positive change in the environment. 

To date, Scandinavian Biolabs has enabled the recovery of over 8,900kg of plastic.

"We found it to be a perfect fit. Partnering with CleanHub is a great stepping stone for us as we take bigger steps to the plastic problem. On the road ahead, we're planning and working toward switching to PET plastic, but in the meantime, we fight back against plastic with our partnership with Cleanhub, and back it up with the numbers." - Christian Harboe, co-founder of Scandinavian Biolabs

Summary

Scandinavian Biolabs is a leading example of how the beauty and cosmetics industry can do better, tackling plastic pollution, resourcing natural ingredients, and creating products closer to home.

And we're proud to have supported this incredible brand on its journey.

With the CleanHub community of 250+ brands, we have already enabled the recovery of more than 8,000,000kg of plastic waste, and we’re just getting started.

Want to reduce your business’s plastic footprint? We can help. All you have to do is get in touch with our in-house team. Once we’ve received your details, we can arrange a call to discuss which plastic recovery plan will suit your business needs best.

Alternatively, why not check out some of our related articles?:

• Case Study: Holistic Hair Rethinks Plastic in the Beauty Industry
• What is Plastic Neutrality?
• Plastic Credits: A Solution for Immediate Impact