Supporting sustainability in industries across the world

Henkel has a longstanding history and track record in sustainability. From supporting the automotive industry to water treatment technologies and plastic-free packaging, the German multinational industrial and consumer goods company has been a pioneer in the industry, developing new and sustainable solutions.

In one of the company’s two business units, Adhesive Technologies, ‏(the other, Consumer Brands), the team’s key focus across the world is on climate, circularity, and safety.

The Adhesive Technologies business unit plays an important role with its adhesives, sealants, and functional coatings. As a global market leader, the business unit develops highly effective solutions through pioneering innovations and intensive partnerships with its customers from a wide range of industries. Be it in automotive engineering, electronics, medical technologies, or the food industry – solutions and technologies from Henkel Adhesive Technologies are everywhere. In Adhesive Technologies, Henkel invests over Euros 310 million annually in R&D.

With some impressive goals as part of their Sustainability Ambition 2030, the Adhesives Technologies team is leading by example:

1. Sustainable Operations: We will be the first global adhesives player with climate-positive operations.
2. Sustainable Materials: We will offer net-zero or low-emission products to all our customers.
3. Enabling Sustainability: We will offer every customer solutions and services that enable emission reduction and circularity.
4. Transparency: We will deliver 100% end-to-end transparency on the sustainability of all our products according to leading standards.

With these goals in mind, the team is developing technology to offer better performance with a reduced ecological footprint across many industries. Some of the technologies and some areas that the teams have developed might surprise you:

Automotive technology that increases full efficiency and reduces CO₂ emissions:

• Henkel’s Adhesive Technologies teams have developed pretreatments for metal surfaces to combine steel and aluminum, as well as liquid soundproofing and 3D reinforcement technologies.
• These solutions contribute to weight reduction in the chassis and increase fuel efficiency. The solutions sold in 2022 saved around 4.6 million metric tons of CO₂-emissions for our customers.
• Bonderite thin film treatment for multi-metal car bodies

Sustainable, water-based adhesive for sports shoes:

• Henkel’s high-impact water-based bonding technology for sports shoes allows improved manufacturing efficiency and increased production capacity while also enabling a CO2 footprint reduction of up to 30% in the adhesive bonding process.
• Aquence - water-based adhesive solutions

Adhesive made from primarily renewable, plant-based materials:

• Henkel developed the industry’s first bio-based polyurethane reactive ‏(PUR) hot melt designed for consumer electronics assembly. Approximately two-thirds of its content is sourced from renewable, plant-based feedstocks. It is also Henkel’s first consumer electronics-specific, bio-based PUR hot melt adhesive.
• Loctite PUR 3544F – bio-based hotmelt adhesive

Plastic-free blister packing for glue sticks

• Henkel is the first adhesive manufacturer worldwide and has introduced plastic-free blister packs for its Pritt glue sticks, which are made from a minimum 85% recycled paper and are fully recyclable
• Pritt glue sticks

Reducing CO₂ emissions during wood construction

• Around 40% of CO₂ emissions worldwide are caused by buildings. Henkel contributes to green construction through heat- and fire-resistant adhesives for high-rise wood construction.
• The products can accelerate the use of sustainable building materials with significantly lower CO₂ emissions during the production of the building material, lower transportation emissions, and carbon storage in wood materials.
• Loctite – for high-rise wood construction