Innovation

Sini refill tablets are cleaning tablets that transform into effective cleaning detergents by just adding water. Launched in 2022, these tablets have revolutionized the use of cleaning detergents and made cleaning both more fun and environmentally friendly. Instead of always buying a new plastic bottle of cleaning detergent when the old one is finished, with Sini refill tablets you can now just reuse the bottle and buy new tablets when needed. Therefore, Sini refill tablets do not only help your wallet, but also help reduce plastic waste. The tablets are available as kitchen, bathroom, universal, toilet, window, and dishwashing tablets, meaning that there is a tablet available for every use. In addition, there are also unscented tablets available for every kind of tablet. The different tablets also come in different colors, making it both fun and easy to know which tablet to use.  

Karoliina Leppinen, who is a communications manager at Sinituote Oy, explains how the launch of these refill tablets has been one of the highest points of her career at Sinituote Oy, but also one of the highest points for Sinituote Oy as a company, since the refill tablets have been such a success. She explains how these tablets help reduce plastic waste and therefore help solve SDG 14, since consumers do not need to buy a new cleaning detergent bottle. In addition, she mentions how these refill tablets are the first in the world that have been given the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, which is one of the world's toughest environmental certifications. Moreover, the packages of these refill tablets are made of recycled materials, helping them therefore solve SDG 12.  

Inspiration

The idea for the refill tablets came from Sinituote Oy’s CEO Johanna Hamro-Drotz, who is driven by her own and the company’s way of seeing sustainability as a key factor in all future innovations. The company has, according to Karoliina Leppinen, the communications manager at Sinituote Oy, “a desire to find sustainable solutions in (our) cleaning products”, which is fundamental in all their operations. In addition, Karoliina explains how the inspiration came more specifically from wanting to come up with a new cleaning innovation and to create a product that “does not have too many unnecessary chemicals or any toxins”. Furthermore, Karoliina points out that it took a few years for the product to be developed and that Sinituote Oy needed to hire their own chemist for the development process, since they wanted to have, as mentioned earlier, a product that is as clean from chemicals and toxins as possible. The development process took a few years, but as the refill tablets launched in 2022, they soon became a total game changer in the market of cleaning detergents, first in Finland, but now also in other countries, such as Sweden and the UK.  

Overall impact

As mentioned earlier, the launch of the new innovative Sini refill tablets in 2022 is one of the brightest points in Sinituote Oy’s history. The launch of these revolutionizing refill tablets did not only end up as a successful move, it also has had a huge impact on the business, society, and environment as a whole. Overall, this successful new innovation reflects the values of Sinituote Oy as a company and it is also a great achievement for Finnish entrepreneurship. 

Since Sinituote Oy is a well-known company in Finland, anything they do as a brand has an impact on the Finnish market and consumer choices. Evidence of the remarkable achievement of these refill tablets, is the fact that the innovation is the world’s first tablet cleaning product that has been certificated with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. What makes this ecolabel so special and impressive is that it is only awarded to products that meet ambitious environmental requirements, such as packaging requirements that contribute to a circular economy and size requirements that contribute to a product that lasts longer and conserves the resources of our planet. In addition, cleaning products that have the Nordic Swan Ecolabel need to meet the strict requirements concerning hazardous chemicals that are harmful to the environment and our health. In addition, even if the refill tablets already help solve SDG 14 and SDG 12, having the Nordic Swan Ecolabel adds up the impact the refill tablets have towards the SDGs, as the ecolabel itself helps solve several other SDGs, such as SDG 3 and SDG 8.  

Business benefit

Karoliina Leppinen explains how these refill tablets have made Sinituote Oy’s message about sustainable solutions stronger, since the refill tablets truly represent the values of the company. Since they have not had any cleaning detergents before these refill tablets, as they have only made other cleaning products, such as mops and cloths, these refill tablets have opened new opportunities for the company. In addition, the refill tablets have kind of opened a new market, since they are the first cleaning refill tablets to exist, at least in the Nordic and European countries. 

Furthermore, and as mentioned earlier, Karoliina explains how they needed to hire their own chemist for the development process of the refill tablets. In addition, a lot of marketing activities had to be done, especially in the beginning of the process, since the refill tablets were, as said, the first ones on the market. In addition, since Sinituote Oy has not had cleaning detergents on the market before, they needed to really pay attention to how successful the launch would be, since they did not really know how their customers would react to the new products, even if Sinituote Oy as a company is very well known, especially in Finland. However, Karoliina points out that their customers have had a positive reaction towards the refill tablets, and it has been noticed that consumers do want to try and buy them.  

Lastly, even if Karoliina is not able tell the exact impact the refill tablets have had on the company regarding numbers and sales, it is clear that the launch of these innovative tablets has had an overall positive impact on the company and made Sinituote Oy a competitive actor on the market of cleaning detergents, both in Finland and abroad.  

Social and environmental benefit

This innovation does benefit both society and the environment. It does this by affecting the way society sees cleaning products and offering a wider selection of cleaning supplies for consumers to buy. Continuously consumer choices affect the environment, because of the product and plastic waste that is left over from cleaning products. Now consumers have the opportunity to choose cleaning detergents that not only last longer but are also better for the environment in a new innovative way. 

Lastly, Karoliina highlights the fact that Sinituote Oy has already saved 4 million unnecessary plastic bottles, since the production and innovative work of the refill tablets started. In addition, she mentions how the light weight of the refill bottles makes them produce less CO2 emissions, which also has a positive impact on the environment. There is therefore evidence that the refill tablets have made a huge positive impact in reducing plastic waste regarding cleaning detergents, since the bottles used for the refill tablets do not need to be thrown away when in need for a refill. Step by step this truly amazing innovation from Finland will be able to change the markets, not only in Finland, but also in Europe and globally, and in that way contribute to a more sustainable and better future. 

Interview

Karoliina Leppinen, Head of communications

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