Henkel leads personal products category in Dow Jones Sustainability Index
The Germany-based consumer goods player highlighted that it continues to be the only company in its sector to feature in both of the indices, which list the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.
An analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance is carried out in order to establish the DJSI rankings, with areas such as corporate governance, resource efficiency and supply chain standards taken into account.
“The results of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and other global ratings provide essential feedback for us, allowing us to check that we are on the right course,” commented Kathrin Menges, Executive Vice President Human Resources and chair of Henkel’s Sustainability Council.
“The global challenges we all face call for each one of us to rethink the way we live, consume and do business. Therefore our aim is to achieve more with less,” she said.
Sustainability strategy
Henkel’s sustainability strategy is based around the three strategic principles of products, partners and people. In its Beauty Care business, which includes the Schwarzkopf, Diadermine and Right Guard brands, the company has set up the Path to Sustainability Excellence programme. This covers all business and decision-making processes and implicates raw material suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers.
According to Henkel, ‘the key to implementing the principles in practice is the ongoing optimization of our cosmetics products'. A company spokesperson cited sustainability in packaging development and the use of natural and renewable raw materials as points of focus.
The spokesperson told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com that nature-based raw materials are used in all product groups in Henkel's cosmetics business, highlighting that “more than two-thirds of the ingredients of the product formulations of our soaps, shampoos and shower gels are now based on renewable raw materials.”
Henkel also notes that it is increasingly using ingredients obtained from renewable raw materials in styling products, for example through replacing thickener systems derived from mineral oils (polyacrylates) with starch- and cellulose-based systems.
The company highlighted its Fa deodorant aerosol cans as an example of sustainability in packaging. These have contained approximately 10 per cent recycled aluminium from industrial waste since 2013, which has cut the weight of the cans by 20 per cent and reduced their carbon footprint as a result.
