History of sustainability at Henkel
Henkel's sustainability strategy has continuously evolved. Since Fritz Henkel started his detergent business in 1876, the company’s vision was to make people's lives easier, better and more beautiful. From the very beginning, Henkel has taken responsibility for its employees, neighbors and the community. In 1912, a first-aid center was set up at the plant and a full-time nurse was hired. Since 1927, Henkel continuously improved its occupational safety through systematic accident prevention. The introduction in 1959 of regular ecological quality checks for detergents and household cleaners was one of the first steps to make sure that products and production had no harmful effect on the environment. In 1991, Henkel was one of the first companies to sign the Business Charter for Sustainable Development of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Today, worldwide management systems for safety, health, environment are in place, and the concept of sustainability is firmly anchored in Henkel’s corporate policy.
Fritz Henkel founded Henkel & Cie in Aachen; workforce: 3 employees; manufacture of the first product named “Universal Laundry Detergent” based on waterglass.
Persil was developed as the first self-acting laundry detergent. It relieved housewives of the laborious rubbing by hand and the attendant wear and tear on the fabric.
Henkel became the first company in the chemical industry in Germany to employ a safety engineer, who was responsible for planned accident prevention. Alongside his safety tasks, he sought to improve conditions of work.
Launch of the solvent-free Pritt glue stick and Persil 70. The enzyme-containing Persil 70 was given the claim “biologically active.”
Principles of Environmental and Consumer Protection (since 1995: Principles and Objectives of Environmental Protection and Safety).
More about sustainability
Downloads: Vision, Values and Codes
Environmental protection is included as one of the aims in Henkel’s corporate guidelines.
Introduction of integrated management systems, binding Company-wide SHE standards for safety, health and environment, and launch of worldwide SHE audits.
Declaration of participation in the United Nations’ Global Compact.
External link:
UN Millennium Development Goals
Definition of the five Henkel focal areas of sustainable development and introduction of corporate sustainability objectives until 2012. We reached our targets ahead of time. More information about the new sustainability strategy you can find here:
The well-established focal area concept was complemented by the additional area of “performance”. This reflects our main purpose as a business organization and our value proposition to society: to create value for our customers and consumers, and thus for our company, employees and shareholders.
More details in the Online Sustainability Report 2012
