Acting responsibly throughout the value chain – from research and development to the production and logistics of our brands and technologies – is pivotal to the way we conduct our business.

Innovations are the basis for sustainable development, as sustainability is seldom achieved through short-term product optimization. In fact it is today’s research that sets the course for tomorrow’s sustainable products.

Hence, the requirements of corporate social responsibility are incorporated into our research and product development activities from the very start. The focus is on novel product concepts that combine excellent performance and improved environmental compatibility, while also providing customers and consumers with tangible added value. Our aim is to continue to make people’s lives easier, better and more beautiful, through innovative brands and technologies.

This strategy requires a high degree of innovativeness to succeed. In 2007, Henkel invested 350 million euros in research and development. Worldwide, some 2,800 employees work in research and product development. Consistent alignment to the needs of customers and consumers, combined with early consideration of sustainability aspects in our research strategy, give us a technical lead and competitive advantages.

Sustainable development needs a systematic approach. To enable us to assume responsibility as comprehensively as possible, our experts analyze and evaluate our products “from the cradle to the grave,” with the aim of further improving safety and environmental compatibility in all phases of the product life cycle. Improvement measures should be applied, in particular, at the points where the consequences for the environment are especially relevant and improvements can be realized efficiently.

A review of the life cycle analyses of our various product categories shows that suitable improvements often differ widely. For example, energy consumption and the associated carbon dioxide emissions have a very different significance in the life cycle of a detergent than in that of a household cleaner. The peak energy demand of a laundry or automatic dishwashing detergent occurs during its use in a washing machine or a dishwasher:

Here, we focus on developing products that can be used in an energy-saving manner, e.g. for low-temperature washing. At the same time, we try to influence the behavior of customers and consumers through targeted communication. To encourage consumers to conserve resources, for example, we participate in the “Save Energy, Save Water” initiative of the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products (A. I. S. E.). This initiative was launched to encourage consumers in Europe to save energy and water when using their dishwashers. 

The energy consumption and the carbon dioxide emissions associated with household cleaners, on the other hand, are relatively low throughout their life cycle and are not generally attributable to their use. The carbon dioxide footprint of a typical household cleaner is about 90 percent smaller than that of an all-purpose laundry detergent. In cases such as these, we take different approaches to achieve improvements. These include greater use of renewable raw materials, the improvement of biodegradability, and the reduction and improvement of packaging materials (see product examples).

To enable us to demonstrate process improvements to our industrial customers in a transparent and easily understandable manner, we have developed a new tool: the Value Calculator. This helps us to identify potential savings in the consumption of energy, water and raw materials, and to improve our customers’ processes. The Value Calculator can be used to compare each step of a new process with those of an existing process. The resulting advantages and cost savings are apparent at a glance. The comparisons are based on detailed documentation of the process steps in the Value Calculator program. This makes it possible for the product developers’ know-how to be utilized much more easily by the sales engineers. Even if customers have to pay more for an innovative Henkel product, the complete solution from Henkel means lower total costs, because it reduces resource consumption, wastewater costs, and waste costs, and extends the service life of the end products.

Consider Bonderite NT, for example. We developed this nanoceramic coating process for the metal industry as an alternative to iron phosphating. For decades, iron phosphating has been the standard method of protecting metal used in, for example, refrigerators, office furniture, supermarket shelves, and agricultural machinery against corrosion. Bonderite NT not only offers optimal corrosion protection, but is also qualitatively, ecologically and economically superior to iron phosphating. The new process cuts energy consumption during processing by up to 30 percent. In addition, there are no emissions of heavy metals to wastewater, and the costs of wastewater treatment and disposal are reduced. Bonderite NT therefore significantly reduces the total costs while improving sustainability performance.