Henkel Exceeds Sustainability Goals

When things are going well…keep going! Last year, Henkel reached the interim targets of its Sustainability Strategy for 2030. Now it has set new milestones for 2020 and published its 25th Sustainability Report.


“But we are not stopping now; we are already thinking a step ahead,” said Kathrin Menges, EVP-human resources and chair of Henkel’s Sustainability Council. “In order to continue to drive sustainability, we have developed new ambitious targets for 2020 and defined additional areas for action along the entire value chain.”


Achieving more while using less resources and tripling the efficiency by 2030 – that is the goal of Henkel’s Sustainability Strategy. The company has made great progress and has surpassed its interim targets for 2011 to 2015:

• Energy efficiency improved by 18%;
• Water use by 23%;
• Waste volume by 17%;
• Occupational safety by 33% and
• Sales by 11%.


Overall, the company has improved the relationship between the created value and the environmental footprint by 38%, according to Henkel executives.


The new targets: By 2020, the company intends to reduce CO₂ emissions of its production sites, water use and waste volume by 30% per ton of product compared to 2010. Occupational safety is to be improved by 40% and sales by 22% per ton of product. The achievement of these targets would result in an overall efficiency improvement of 75% by 2020 compared to 2010.


Besides reducing its environmental footprint, Henkel encourages others to offer contributions for more sustainability; this goes beyond dialog with suppliers, customers and consumers. Henkel’s employees are at the center of the Sustainability Ambassador program. As a part of the program, the company’s school project initiative continued to grow in 2015: Henkel’s employees receive training so that they are able to explain the importance of sustainable behavior to others, including schoolchildren. Since 2012, around 6,200 Henkel employees have become Sustainability Ambassadors, and the program has reached around 63,000 schoolchildren in 43 countries.


Henkel’s achievements in sustainability were once again honored in 2015 by various sustainability ratings and rankings. Henkel was included once again in the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World” Index and was rated “Gold” by EcoVadis. The company also received RobecoSAM’s Silver Class award.