Sustainable skincare – Dermoshop lowered the carbon footprint of its bottles
When Henrietta Backlund was a child she sometimes used to help her father out at the family company’s warehouse.
“I remember us reusing the cardboard boxes in which the products had been delivered. This was long before anybody even knew what sustainability was.”
That same philosophy is still evident at Dermoshop, where Henrietta Backlund today works as Product Manager. In recent years, Dermoshop has done consistent sustainability work, including much more than reusing cardboard boxes. According to CEO Suvi Markko, the work can be divided into three main categories.
“Firstly, we have lowered the amount of waste in general, and especially packaging waste, and continue to do so. Secondly, as an e-commerce company, we need to reduce the CO2 emissions of our supply chain by optimising what is transported and how. Thirdly, our products need to be sustainable for our customers, i.e. they need to be skin-friendly and allergy-friendly.”
In 2019, Dermoshop decided to take a closer look at its plastic bottles. After intensive research, the amount of recycled plastic was increased and the bottles were made thinner, saving more than 25,000 bottles a year. Depending on the bottle, 50-100 percent of the plastic raw material is now of recycled origin. In addition, Dermoshop has a wide range of refill packaging for its most popular products.
Another big step was taken a couple of years ago when Dermoshop inaugurated its first own soap factory in connection with the company’s office in Korsnäs, Finland. Up until then, all the company’s products had been manufactured by subcontractors.
When it comes to the last aspect of sustainability, skin-friendliness, Markko and Backlund point out that the most sustainable products are the ones being used to the last drop.
“Skin-friendliness has been in our DNA from the very beginning, and it starts with the ingredients.”
The trend today is that traditional cosmetics become more and more like nature cosmetics. According to Backlund, the cosmetics legislation in Europe is in fact quite progressive.
“Many people have an outdated perception of the industry. We have not used plastic microbeads in ages and animal testing has been illegal in Europe for years already.”
