Faruk Arig, president of Henkel China, said sustainable development, a distinctive feature of Henkel, was a crucial aspect of the company's work. Provided for China Daily
Henkel, a German adhesives, cosmetics and detergents company, is focusing on business innovation and an integrated strategy for sustainable development.
"For us, innovation is the primary growth driver for Henkel China. As one of the most innovative companies in its markets, more than one third of our sales volume is generated by products that are less than three years old," Faruk Arig, president of Henkel China, told China Business Weekly.
"This means that innovation is indispensable to the profitability of our business," he said, adding that his company is specially focused on innovations that offer customers clear added value.
According to him, the company in 2008 launched the strategy to make its focal areas systematically anchored in its company-wide standardized innovation process, enabling it to fulfill its commitment on business innovation and sustainability.
By 2009, Henkel worldwide had invested 396 million euros in product research and development.
The company had developed ultra-light yet high-strength fiber composite materials to help design engineers to reduce the weight of planes. For the new Airbus A380, for example, this will result in a 30 percent reduction in weight and 40 percent cost savings.
Henkel was recently listed by US thinktank The Ethisphere Institute as one of the "world's most ethnical companies" for 2010.
The Ethisphere Institute awards recognize and encourage companies globally that had obtained outstanding achievements in corporate management and sustainable development through business innovation. Henke is the only Germany-headquartered multinational among other Asian, US and European counterparts.
"Obtaining sustainability development, a distinctive feature of Henkel, will always be the most crucial task for us at any time, and we will strive to incorporate our best-product qualities with our mission of environmental protection and CSR (corporate social responsibilities)," said Faruk Arig.
Facing global challenges over energy and climate, water and wastewater; materials and waste, health and safety, and social progress, Henkel has adopted appropriate strategies in more than 125 countries and regions.
Each year, Henkel will issue its own sustainability development report at the same time it releases its annual finances, a move that highlights the company's strong emphasis on the issue.
For example, Arig said the company had decided to reduce the volume of its Pritt glue stick, as research finds customers often fail to use up the whole stick, which might lead to large quantities of waste. Pritt has been seeking end its reliance on oils and eventually found a way to replace them with starch, a recyclable raw material.
The company started its research in this area as far back as 1991. Henkel researchers discovered that starch, after chemical processing, has perfect adhesive features on a par with the traditional polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) used in Pritt.
In 2000, Henkel launched a comprehensive replacement program for PVP in its adhesive production, becoming the only provider of starch glue sticks in the world. So far, 90 percent of the raw materials used in Pritt glue stick production are recyclable, said Arig.
The technology has been expanded from the consumer goods sector to industrial adhesives, using recyclable materials such as starch, fiber paste, cellulose and protein.
The company has also developed a series of technologies to make people's living space more energy and cost efficient.
For example, for houses in areas with extreme hot weather, it had developed roof-coating products that not only seal the roof, but keep it from overheating. As a result the use of costly air-conditioners can be considerably reduced.
It also developed its Teroson brand adhesives for seams in wood and other types of doors and windows following research that showed the equivalent of about 22 percent of the calorific capacity was lost through draughty gaps.
In 2003, it launched the Ceresit construction materials energy-saving system, which can eliminate heating diffusion to the outside, saving energy costs.
In the 2009 annual sustainability report Henkel published, the company said it would focus on five key areas: energy and environment, waste water usage, raw material and waste materials, health and safety and social progress. It vowed that from now on, every product it launched would make appropriate contributions in each one of the respective areas.
"Through our brands and technologies, Henkel will try its best to meet people's necessities by applying our sustainability development approaches throughout the whole value chain of raw materials, production, logistics and product usage," said Arig.
He cited the development of its Terokal structural adhesives and Terocore structural foams, which are produced in collaboration with automobile manufacturers in order to make cars that will be as light as possible while offering maximum strength and optimal crash-resistance.
Nowadays, structural adhesives are increasingly replacing traditional joining techniques such as welding and riveting. They distribute loads evenly over a larger area and absorb impact energy more effectively if an accident should occur. Moreover, Terokal structural adhesives also make it possible to join different materials such as steel and aluminum.
For example, the company developed Aquace W-01, the first water-based polyurethane adhesive for sports footwear. This inspired a series of innovations that will help to reduce emissions of volatile substances during processing by up to 90 percent in comparison with the use of solvent- based adhesives.
"We launched Aquace SW-07 in 2009. As the first one-component adhesive for applications of this kind, it makes it possible to improve quality while minimizing waste," he said.
By now, all of the leading sports footwear brands are profiting from an appreciably higher level of protection of health and the environment in athletic footwear production facilities, he told China Business Weekly.
"For us, innovation is part of our DNA, a way to obtain development in a sustainable and efficient way," he added.
"Every day, millions of Henkel innovative products are sold and consumed. They have to conserve the environment and raw materials. This is why we concentrate on developing products that not only provide superb performance but also enable the efficient use of valuable resources such as water and energy."
In 2009, Henkel also won three awards respectively from US chainstore giant Walmart, human resources consultancy KeyLogic and Coop Group from Switzerland for its contribution to sustainable development.
