By 2025, all of Henkel's packaging should be recyclable, reusable or compostable. Plastic packaging for consumer products in Europe is to consist of 35 per cent recycled plastic by then. These are the most important goals of the Düsseldorf-based company's expanded packaging strategy. Adhesives are excluded from the reduction targets. Residues there can impair recyclability.
Henkel sees itself as a leading company in the field of Sustainability and has set itself the goal of designing packaging that fulfils customer requirements while consuming as little material as possible and using the most sustainable raw materials. With the Packaging strategy The three elements of a closed value chain are taken as a basis: Intelligent packaging designs utilise as many recycled or renewable materials as possible.
„Only if we reuse and recycle as much material as possible will we be able to live well with our planet's resources in the future.“
Kathrin Menges, Chief Human Resources Officer and Chairwoman of Henkel's Sustainability Council
Packaging volume to be reduced overall
The aim is also to Significantly reduce the amount of packaging and to optimise the areas of transport and logistics. A great deal of care is also taken to make packaging recyclable or, for example, to optimise it with newly developed Refill systems to be able to reuse them. Research is also being carried out into how materials can be composted if necessary.
In order to achieve the goal of a more sustainable packaging industry, Henkel cooperates with various organisations along the entire value chain. For example, the company is a member of the „New Plastics Economy“, an initiative of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This promotes the development of a circular economy for plastic products. Henkel also works with the social enterprise „Plastic Bank“ together. The Plastic Bank runs development projects in Haiti to collect plastic waste from the sea.
