Turning Waste Oil into Green Gold: Taiwanese Girl's Soap Made in Finland Earns Michelin Restaurant's Praise
Taiwanese entrepreneur Lin Ying-ru's eco-soap brand, JooSoap, which upcycles waste cooking oil, has penetrated the Finnish market and is now used by Michelin Green Star restaurant 'Nolla'.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 24, 2026 at 18:41
- 🔍 Collected: April 24, 2026 at 19:02 (20 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 24, 2026 at 21:04 (2h 2m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(CNA Reporter Wu Chi-lin, Helsinki, 24th) Adhering to the concept of upcycling, Taiwanese girl Lin Ying-ru's eco-friendly soap has successfully penetrated the Finnish market, and has been specified for use by the Michelin Green Star restaurant 'Nolla' and multiple other dining brands. She collects waste cooking oil from restaurants and turns it into highly effective cleaning soaps for the original restaurants to use, performing alchemy on waste in the distant Nordic region.
Lin Ying-ru hosted a soap-making event at her studio on Earth Day, April 22nd, where a CNA reporter interviewed her on-site. Her original brand, JooSoap, centers around upcycling—elevating waste into higher-value products. Its product range includes solid soaps, liquid soaps, and liquid soap powder. It also offers B2B customized solutions, turning a partner restaurant's waste oil into exclusive soaps embossed with their logo.
Every bar of soap matures for over 8 weeks before release. Over the past 16 years, she has hosted more than 160 workshops, reaching over a thousand people. Her customized services are highly acclaimed, with some partners even worrying that this precious local circular link might eventually disappear.
The Taichung Maple Community Environmental Classroom (台中楓樹環保小學堂) has promoted waste oil soap-making since 1996, training over 2000 instructors, and is the origin of this technique. Lin Ying-ru officially became an apprentice right before moving abroad. The reason behind it was simple: this knowledge had deep roots in Asia, but in Europe and America, it was virtually a blank slate.
In 2010, she was pursuing a master's degree in Industrial and Strategic Design at Aalto University in Finland, with a minor in Sustainable Innovation. During a class discussion, she casually mentioned Taiwan's case of making soap from waste oil. Unexpectedly, her classmates reacted enthusiastically, so she gathered everyone to try making it together. JooSoap was born out of that classroom, officially launching in 2011 and registering as a company in late 2014.
She said: "It wasn't that I chose it; it's because nobody else was doing it, so I decided to spread the information first." The Nordic academic environment expanded her horizons. Had she not come to Finland back then, none of this would likely have happened.
After graduating, like all international talents, Lin Ying-ru immediately faced the reality of a tough job market in Finland, with visa pressures looming. However, the reputation she accumulated from waste oil soap-making helped her establish a foothold first. She admitted that if she had chosen to seek a full-time corporate job back then, she might not have found one, let alone been able to stay. Choosing entrepreneurship carved out a path for her in a foreign land. "Comparatively, entrepreneurship offers more flexibility."
She discovered that the rhythm of doing things differs vastly between the two places. In Taiwan, free waste oil soap-making events could always attract large crowds and produce thousands of soaps a day. The Finnish mindset is "make only as much as you need," and rallying crowds to do something together is much harder than in Taiwan. She adapted by shifting from large-scale operations to a seasonal boutique approach, making the brand run even more steadily.
The pandemic forced her back to Taiwan for two and a half years. Only after returning to Helsinki did she realize: this is home. "The nature, the air, the water—you can't buy these no matter how much money you spend." Since then, she has tried to find a balance between the two lifestyles, leaving breathing room in her daily rhythm.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Taichung Maple Community Environmental Classroom. She also traveled to Japan to visit the Asian pioneer of waste oil soap-making, "NPO Sekken no Machi" in Chiba Prefecture, which has been deeply cultivating the field for over 40 years.
Lin Ying-ru remarked that making eco-soap from waste oil is an act of benign circulation for the earth. From Japan and Taiwan to Finland, this flame burns in its own way on different lands and has never extinguished. (Editor: Hsieh Yi-hsuan) 1150424
Stand with facts; every sponsorship you give is the power to protect press freedom.
Download the CNA "First-hand News" APP to grasp the latest news instantly.
The text, images, and audio/video of this website may not be reproduced, broadcast publicly, or transmitted and utilized publicly without authorization.
(CNA Reporter Wu Chi-lin, Helsinki, 24th) Adhering to the concept of upcycling, Taiwanese girl Lin Ying-ru's eco-friendly soap has successfully penetrated the Finnish market, and has been specified for use by the Michelin Green Star restaurant 'Nolla' and multiple other dining brands. She collects waste cooking oil from restaurants and turns it into highly effective cleaning soaps for the original restaurants to use, performing alchemy on waste in the distant Nordic region.
Lin Ying-ru hosted a soap-making event at her studio on Earth Day, April 22nd, where a CNA reporter interviewed her on-site. Her original brand, JooSoap, centers around upcycling—elevating waste into higher-value products. Its product range includes solid soaps, liquid soaps, and liquid soap powder. It also offers B2B customized solutions, turning a partner restaurant's waste oil into exclusive soaps embossed with their logo.
Every bar of soap matures for over 8 weeks before release. Over the past 16 years, she has hosted more than 160 workshops, reaching over a thousand people. Her customized services are highly acclaimed, with some partners even worrying that this precious local circular link might eventually disappear.
The Taichung Maple Community Environmental Classroom (台中楓樹環保小學堂) has promoted waste oil soap-making since 1996, training over 2000 instructors, and is the origin of this technique. Lin Ying-ru officially became an apprentice right before moving abroad. The reason behind it was simple: this knowledge had deep roots in Asia, but in Europe and America, it was virtually a blank slate.
In 2010, she was pursuing a master's degree in Industrial and Strategic Design at Aalto University in Finland, with a minor in Sustainable Innovation. During a class discussion, she casually mentioned Taiwan's case of making soap from waste oil. Unexpectedly, her classmates reacted enthusiastically, so she gathered everyone to try making it together. JooSoap was born out of that classroom, officially launching in 2011 and registering as a company in late 2014.
She said: "It wasn't that I chose it; it's because nobody else was doing it, so I decided to spread the information first." The Nordic academic environment expanded her horizons. Had she not come to Finland back then, none of this would likely have happened.
After graduating, like all international talents, Lin Ying-ru immediately faced the reality of a tough job market in Finland, with visa pressures looming. However, the reputation she accumulated from waste oil soap-making helped her establish a foothold first. She admitted that if she had chosen to seek a full-time corporate job back then, she might not have found one, let alone been able to stay. Choosing entrepreneurship carved out a path for her in a foreign land. "Comparatively, entrepreneurship offers more flexibility."
She discovered that the rhythm of doing things differs vastly between the two places. In Taiwan, free waste oil soap-making events could always attract large crowds and produce thousands of soaps a day. The Finnish mindset is "make only as much as you need," and rallying crowds to do something together is much harder than in Taiwan. She adapted by shifting from large-scale operations to a seasonal boutique approach, making the brand run even more steadily.
The pandemic forced her back to Taiwan for two and a half years. Only after returning to Helsinki did she realize: this is home. "The nature, the air, the water—you can't buy these no matter how much money you spend." Since then, she has tried to find a balance between the two lifestyles, leaving breathing room in her daily rhythm.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Taichung Maple Community Environmental Classroom. She also traveled to Japan to visit the Asian pioneer of waste oil soap-making, "NPO Sekken no Machi" in Chiba Prefecture, which has been deeply cultivating the field for over 40 years.
Lin Ying-ru remarked that making eco-soap from waste oil is an act of benign circulation for the earth. From Japan and Taiwan to Finland, this flame burns in its own way on different lands and has never extinguished. (Editor: Hsieh Yi-hsuan) 1150424
Stand with facts; every sponsorship you give is the power to protect press freedom.
Download the CNA "First-hand News" APP to grasp the latest news instantly.
The text, images, and audio/video of this website may not be reproduced, broadcast publicly, or transmitted and utilized publicly without authorization.