Henkel Sees Sustainability Commitment as a Core Value and Success Factor

Henkel has emphasized that it sees its sustainability strategy--which encompasses the entire value chain--as an opportunity to set itself apart from its competitors and offer added value to customers and consumers.

"Our customers are appreciative of the fact that we rank among the pioneers in our sector with respect to sustainability. Today we are presenting our sustainability performance during the past year together with our 2008 Annual Report. This underlines the importance that we attach to sustainability and corporate social responsibility,” explained Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted at the press conference on fiscal 2008. "This is because we are convinced that our continued focus on sustainability will help grow the long term value of our company. In challenging economic times, it is more important than ever to understand that sustainable development is an opportunity,” Rorsted added.

The company believes that ecologically and socially responsible actions also yield economic benefits. Taking fiscal 2008 as a whole, the increases in the prices of energy and raw materials reinforce Henkel’s determination to continue to pursue its company-wide sustainability targets for reductions in water consumption, energy consumption, and waste by 2012. The current sustainability performance chart for 2004 to 2008 shows that the company is consistently achieving continuous improvements in its global environmental indicators. Energy consumption decreased by 11 percent, water consumption by 35 percent, waste generation by 30 percent, and carbon dioxide emissions by 6 percent. Over the same period, the number of occupational accidents fell by 63 percent.

www.henkel.com/sustainability