Podcast 203: Turning the tide on plastic to beauty

In this episode, we have an enlightening conversation with Joel Tasche, the visionary founder and CEO of CleanHub, a company dedicated to ridding the planet of plastic pollution. Growing up with a deep connection to the ocean through sailing and surfing, Joel’s passion for marine conservation led him to found CleanHub with a mission to create, encourage and shape waste management solutions where this infrastructure is lacking globally.

This is a topic close to the heart of podcast host and CEO of Formula Botanica, Lorraine Dallmeier, who is a certified environmentalist and biologist. In conversation with Joel, Lorraine unravels the layers of sustainable packaging, the intricacies of waste management and the environmental impact and responsibilities of the beauty industry in reducing plastic waste at source.

Join us as we explore the initiatives CleanHub has taken to tackle plastic pollution and create positive change in the beauty industry.

Sign up on iTunes
Subscribe to Spotify
Subscribe to YouTube

Inspirational Quote:

“Life is better living on a clean planet, whether you’re in Berlin or a fisherman in Senegal. It’s a much, much nicer life if you don’t live surrounded by pollution.” – Joel Tasche, Founder of CleanHub

In this episode with CleanHub’s Joel Tasche, you’ll hear:

• An overview of CleanHub’s mission which is the creation of waste management infrastructure where it is lacking, emphasizing the critical role of waste management in curbing plastic pollution.
• The origin story of CleanHub: Learn about Joel’s personal motivation for founding CleanHub, rooted in his love of the environment and deep concern for the global plastic pollution crisis.
• The challenges in sustainable packaging: Joel delves into the challenges the beauty industry faces in adopting sustainable packaging, citing examples of hard-to-recycle materials and the need for a circular economy.
• About CleanHub’s partnerships with cosmetic brands: Find out how CleanHub works with cosmetics brands, with a significant 40% of their customer base coming from the cosmetics industry. Understand how brands contribute a portion of their revenue to fund waste collection and management initiatives.
• How CleanHub develops waste tracking and detection technology: Explore the innovative traceability software developed by CleanHub, ensuring transparency and accountability in waste management. Joel explains the importance of backing up claims with evidence to build trust and credibility.

Packed essentials include:

• Proof of impact: CleanHub places a strong emphasis on transparency, using advanced technology and third-party verification to provide evidence of the impact they claim.
• Holistic approach to sustainability: Joel discusses the need for a holistic approach to sustainability, considering factors beyond packaging such as waste management infrastructure and circular economy principles.
• Balancing sustainability and market competitiveness: While advocating for sustainability, CleanHub recognizes the need for brands to remain competitive in the marketplace by striking a balance between environmental responsibility and financial viability.
• Consumer perceptions: Joel reflects on consumer preferences, highlighting the challenge of aligning consumer values ​​with purchasing behavior. It emphasizes the importance of educating consumers to make informed choices.
• Ethics vs. Sustainability: The episode explores consumer prioritization of non-toxic and cruelty-free products and the potential overlap or confusion with sustainability goals.

Meet our guest

Joel Tasche is its Founder and Co-CEO CleanHub. He grew up sailing and surfing and developed a passion for all things ocean related. To turn his passion into a career, he started CleanHub – a company committed to ridding the planet of plastic pollution. With CleanHub they are developing waste management infrastructure where there is nothing to reduce the amount of plastic entering the environment.

CleanHub is a Berlin-based company that uses technology to keep plastic out of the sea by implementing waste recovery where there is none. Their solution enables proactive brands to fund and promote plastic recovery in coastal communities across Asia and Africa most at risk of plastic entering the ocean. Collection efforts are fully transparent and openly influenced. TÜV SÜD ISO verified AI technology is used to track and locate the collection. Unlike alternative approaches that focus on recovering plastic once it’s already in nature, CleanHub prevents it from getting there in the first place.

Learn more about CleanHub:
Website | Instagram | Tik Tok

There is a wealth of information in our old episodes and we encourage you to go back and listen to them. If you want to learn more about some of the topics we covered in this episode, check out the podcast archives again. Go and listen:

Episode 188: The Great Myth of Plastic Recycling
Episode 187: A plastic-free beauty future with Sulapac – innovative, sustainable packaging.
Episode 118: Plastic is not the enemy – we are
Episode 117: Should Beauty Be Plastic-Free?
Episode 115: The microplastics hiding in your cosmetics

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode at iTunes, Spotify the Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Leave us a comment

Liz is the Content Coordinator for Formula Botanica and joined our team in August 2020. Liz has worked as a professional blogger, journalist and website developer for many years and has also been part of the Formula Botanica student community. Read more about the Formula Botanica Team.