For more than 134 years, Henkel has been combining leading brand quality with responsibility toward people and the environment. And its performance in this field has been recognized by numerous awards along the way. Now, in the special category ‘Decision-makers’ Best Sustainability Brand’, Henkel has been honored with the ‘2010 Best Brands Award’.

Kasper Rorsted
Henkel Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

“We are delighted at this award and the recognition that it confers on our sustainability strategy,” commented Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted. “We have publicly committed to delivering the best possible quality in combination with effective environmental protection and corporate social responsibility. Sustainability is one of the salient features of Henkel, and we want to further expand our leading role in this domain.”
 

Kasper Rorsted
Henkel Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

At the first ever German Sustainability Congress, the award for being Germany's "Most Sustainable Brand" went to Henkel, providing the company with yet another major accolade for its activities in this field. "We are happy to receive this award. My special thanks go to our 55000 employees worldwide. It is their award. Henkel has been working on the sustainability topic for more than 130 years. Sustainability is part of our DNA," said Kasper Rorsted, Henkel's CEO. "We are strongly convinced that this topic is more important today than ever before. We see enormous potential for innovations that combine performance and quality with responsibility for people and environment."

Dr. Friedrich Stara
Executive Vice President Laundry & Home Care

At the German Sustainability Congress, Dr. Friedrich Stara, Henkel's Executive Vice President responsible for the global Laundry & Home Care business, explained the message behind the "Quality & Responsibility" logo,
stating: "Our aim is to establish a new quality standard in the marketplace and to assume issue leadership in the field of sustainability within the markets of importance to us."

Link to the Press Release

Kasper Rorsted
Henkel Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

“An increasing number of customers now demand more than quality, product performance and innovations. They also want proof of sustainable development – that is, meeting the needs of today’s generation without endangering the opportunities of future generations. We have decades of experience in this area, which we can put to good use.

Markets and customers expect companies to recognize that contributing to society is part of their corporate responsibility. The need to balance economy, ecology and social responsibility has always been self-evident for Henkel. This standpoint has helped us to build an excellent reputation as a company and to attain leading market positions worldwide.

It is essential for us to maintain this lead, as many companies have now come to realize that they can only attain leading positions in the market if they also contribute toward meeting the global challenges – climate change, resource scarcity, social progress.

In other words, only companies that develop intelligent processes, that can assure product performance and quality long-term allied with the greatest possible environmental compatibility, will prevail in the market. The public demands quality, and this means performance plus responsibility or, as in the name of the initiative launched by the Laundry & Home Care business sector: “Sustainability as a success factor.”

At Henkel, sustainability – that is, acting responsibly throughout the value chain – is part of our DNA. The challenges in five areas are especially important. These are: Energy and Climate, Water and Wastewater, Materials and Waste, Safety and Health, and Social Progress. We must be willing to strike out in new directions, to take an open approach to finding new solutions. This means viewing the global challenges that face us as an opportunity and not as a threat. This is why we have set ourselves the goal of ensuring that each new product contributes to sustainable development in at least one of these focal areas. We need a new mindset – globally. Each one of our 55,000 colleagues all over the world must understand and internalize sustainability and act in accordance with its principles. By simultaneously considering economic, ecological and social aspects we can generate enormous potential for the development of innovative, powerful and smart products.

Our objective must be to position Henkel as a leading sustainability partner for our industrial customers, for retailers, and for consumers. We have a long history of experience in quality and performance – and “Sustainability as a success factor” is our business.

Mexico
Rosalinda Treviño
Head of Research & Development, Laundry / Home Care

“For us, sustainability has become part of our culture of innovation. At R&D, for example, we have contributed to increasing the utilization of materials from renewable sources by up to 50% in our liquid detergents. Our powder detergents were the first in the Mexican market to have phosphate-free formulas. Our colleagues in Production have significantly optimized water and energy consumption in their processes so that we are even able to exceed the requirements of local environmental regulations. For this achievement, we were already granted certification as an “Industria Limpia” (Clean Industry) by the Mexican Organization for Environment Protection in 2007. Our sustainability performance has helped us to stand out in the market.”

USA
James A. Serenson Jr.
Director of Marketing, Loctite

“Sustainability is an important industry trend and critical to our strategic direction. For the North American market, we have assigned dedicated resources to develop Henkel’s business in the fast-growing renewable energy markets. With our tailor-made adhesives for fuel cells and solar cells, for instance, we make important contributions to advance the development of these clean energy sources. Given the current dependency on fossil fuels and the rising prices for crude oil, working on the ‘energy sources of the future’ is both relevant and exciting.”

Lebanon
Georges Rizkallah
Supply Chain Manager, Laundry / Home Care

“When I joined Henkel at the end of 2005, we took on the challenge of making the Beirut plant fully compliant with the Henkel standards for safety, health & environment [SHE]. In less than three months, we managed to turn around the previously non-acceptable situation at the plant and establish a whole new safety culture. Today, we are at over 1,800 days accident-free. It was a very rewarding experience, and completely changed the way we all work and behave at our plant. Thanks to SHE standards, we are now providing our people with a safe work place and a clean environment that we are all proud of. We were successful because everyone was involved, from top management to production floor.”

Canada
Isabelle Valois
Market Development Manager

“Sustainability is not just a marketing trend, but a real chance for innovation and competitive advantage. Interview results from a survey done in 2007 showed that our industrial customers are increasingly concerned about sustainability. They expect assistance from suppliers like Henkel in reaching their own sustainability goals – such as making their processes more energy-efficient. In response to this concern, we initiated a customer-focused sustainability team with employees from different job functions within the Industrial Adhesives department – with the goal of positioning Henkel as the leading sustainability partner for our customers.”