CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Promote circularity

Eliminating, reducing and – where this is not possible – recycling packaging materials, especially for our consumer goods, is the best way to minimize waste and the related negative environmental effects. Our goal is to reduce the amount of packaging material we use to a minimum – without compromising the quality, performance or safety of our products – and to provide consumers with all the information they need for safe use and proper disposal. With a few exceptions, today our packaging has been developed to provide the level of performance consumers expect, while minimizing the use of resources. In addition, our packaging can be disposed of in existing collection and recycling systems.

At the same time, resource consumption can be reduced if materials are kept within the cycles of the economy for as long as possible. As a result, our mission is to include materials from sustainable sources and to design packaging so that it can be reused as raw materials for new products in order to close the material loop. Our packaging developers work closely with suppliers, packaging material manufacturers, recyclers and reprocessors to meet the requirements of functional packaging.

In our Adhesive Technologies business unit, we are focusing on innovative solutions that facilitate recycling and on the separation of materials to make it possible to repair, reuse and refurbish products and product parts.

Henkel is also pursuing a variety of approaches to implement closed-loop recycling in its own production processes. In this area, we emphasize the separate collection of all recyclable waste streams at our sites.

Our new Circularity Policy describes Henkel's ambitions, goals and measures in the area of circular economy. 

Our packaging strategy: Strong focus, ambitious targets

At Henkel, we recognize our responsibility related to packaging. We’re committed to promoting sustainability and bring this commitment to life through a set of ambitious targets. Our strategy is built around the circular economy concept and focuses on including materials from sustainable sources and using a smart design to close the loop – for the benefit of people and the planet.

Our strategy to promote the circular economy for packaging is centered around three pillars:

1. Intelligent packaging design and reduction of packaging material

Sustainable packaging solutions are the best way to create an efficient and cost-effective circular economy. Innovative design is essential in replacing virgin raw materials with recycled or renewable alternatives wherever possible, which enables the use of more sustainable or renewable material. Our aim is that by 2025, 100 percent of Henkel’s packaging will have all of the necessary properties to enter a recycling process or be reusable.

2. Use of material from sustainable sources

Henkel constantly works on increasing the share of recycled content in ist packaging. We also aim to use packaging made from sustainable raw materials. The most widely used packaging materials made from renewable raw materials are paper and cardboard. It is our goal to obtain 100 percent of the paper and cardboard that we use in our packaging from recycled material or, where virgin fiber is required, from certified sustainable forestry sources.

3. Closing the loop together

We partner with organizations from along the packaging value chain to drive progress in the infrastructure for recycling. Our ambition under the framework of Extended Producer Responsibility ‏(EPR) is to ensure that there is no unregulated disposal of packaging waste. To achieve this environmental goal, we are driving collection and recycling systems that demonstrably support infrastructures that produce measurable collection and recycling volumes. Henkel is developing and testing new logos for product packaging to promote sustainable purchasing habits and communicate how to recycle properly. The logos indicate the percentage of recycled material or the recyclability of the packaging, and some also help to ensure that the product packaging is recycled properly. Another option for preventing waste is to reuse packaging.

Our packaging ambitions and targets

• 100 percent of Henkel’s packaging is designed and developed to optimize recyclability or reusability by 2025.*
• We aim to reduce the amount of virgin plastics from fossil sources in our consumer products by 50 percent by 2025. We will achieve this by increasing the proportion of recycled plastic to more than 30 percent and reducing the volume of virgin plastic.
• We want to continuously help ensure that all packaging waste is properly disposed of and recycled, thereby preventing it from entering the environment. In order to achieve this, we are supporting waste collection and recycling initiatives. We are investing in innovative solutions and technologies that support improved infrastructure and consumer information to drive the recycling process.

_{* Excluding products where ingredients or residue may affect recyclability or pollute recycling streams.}

Our contribution to the circularity of industrial products

Reducing production waste

We aim to promote circularity in our operations. In doing so, we strive to reduce waste from production and to recycle, refill or reuse production waste that cannot be prevented and to reduce the volume of waste that goes to landfills. We support this process by systematically identifying production waste streams and creating new circular systems where possible. We are focusing on increasing recycling at our sites and working closely with our partners in the value chain – suppliers, customers, and recycling and disposal companies.

Our initiatives are centered around three key areas:

• Reducing material consumption and waste generation.
• Reusing materials.
• Recycling materials.

Partnerships along the value chain: Stronger together

Our efforts to achieve these targets are brought to life through strong collaboration with partners from across industries to drive innovation in packaging development. 

• New Plastics Economy: this initiative is led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and brings stakeholders together to rethink the future of plastic and build momentum toward a circular economy. 
• Recyclate Forum: This alliance with more than 70 members – consisting of retailers, product and packaging manufacturers, dual systems, waste management and recycling companies as well as representatives from science and politics – aims to raise people's awareness of a circular system.
• U.S. Plastics Pact: The regional agreement brings together governments and businesses to accelerate the transition to a circular plastics economy and commit to shared targets for 2025 that go beyond legislation. Henkel is one of the first to join this agreement.
• CEFLEX: Henkel is also a founding member of CEFLEX, a consortium of more than 130 European companies and organizations aiming to make flexible packaging – which usually consists of multiple layers of film or foil that are often difficult to separate – easier to recycle.

What’s to come: Becoming more sustainable

Packaging is constantly changing, driven by innovative new designs and changing consumer expectations. This constant transformation opens up exciting opportunities to minimize the negative environmental impact of packaging. At Henkel, our experts are committed to exploring the possibilities to make packaging more sustainable – protecting the products we love while also offering a better contribution to the planet.