Mass Balance

Key Facts

• Henkel commits to the use of responsibly sourced, renewable and low-emission materials to reach environmental targets, lower the primary fossil footprint and work towards a circular economy.
• Henkel is aware that the availability of these materials may currently be limited, since the transition towards the global and large-scale production of materials with the desired attributes requires substantial investments in new and existing production units and the connected infrastructure.
• To address these challenges, Henkel supports the use of materials to which the desired attributes are allocated via a mass balance model if compliant to certain criteria that ensure contribution of the project towards a sustainable transition of the industry.

For further reference especially on environmental sustainability please see also our Responsible Sourcing Policy, Henkel Nature Policy and Henkel Circularity Policy. Also see our full Henkel Mass Balance Position.

Background

Raw materials used for production and packaging can have different attributes, although their physico-chemical properties are the same. As an example, a fatty acid based on palm oil could be derived from RSPO certified palm oil or from non-certified palm oil. In both cases, the physio-chemical properties do not change, but the environmental and social impacts differ drastically. Further examples include the use of raw materials derived from recycled vs. virgin feedstocks or biobased vs. fossil feedstocks. In many cases, a company aims to purchase raw materials with such attributes related to more sustainable solutions to reduce company emissions or environmental footprints of a product, to move away from fossil feedstocks or to increase the circularity of material. 

The transition towards the global and large-scale production of materials with these desired attributes will require substantial investments, collaboration among all key stakeholders, and concrete transformation plans, which is a long-term challenge of the industries. As long as the supply of these raw materials is still limited and both, conventional and more sustainable options are on the market, companies can use different chain-of-custody models to produce or purchase material with the desired attributes. One of these chain-of-custody models is the so-called mass balance approach. 

Transformative Use of Mass Balance Models

Henkel aims for a complete transition towards the use of sustainable, low-emission, defossilized and renewable raw materials and packaging. Henkel advocates for a physical transformation of the chemical industry, including a gradual change of existing assets. Mass balance approaches can accelerate this transition but should continuously lead to higher shares of more sustainable and renewable material. Accordingly, Henkel supports mass balance models as a transition method on the way to physical segregation and full industry transition towards sustainable inputs. 

Henkel requires a physical connection between input and output, a regional approach, a reasonable accounting period and a suitable certification scheme to avoid any double counting for mass balanced materials. The credibility and transition path alignment of a mass balance project will increase if a chemical connection based on the chemical reaction equation is given, if the used technology is scalable, if a plan toward segregated production is available and if a further transition is incentivized. Henkel strives to reach these additional criteria in the future. 

Henkel is aware that mass balance models can be complex. To ensure transparency and credibility to our customers, robust auditing and third-party certification schemes are used. Henkel is committed to transparent communication towards consumers and customers and to the offer of support to fully understand the method of mass balancing. Any kind of misleading claims and information for customers and consumers must be avoided. Henkel ensures that any claims made are clear and in line with certification requirements.