Henkel Indiaembarks on a rural solar power CSR initiative

Press Release

30 Mar 2016

Mumbai: Henkel Adhesive Technologies India Private Limited (Henkel India), a fully owned subsidiary of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, the leading solution provider for adhesives, sealants and functional coatings, has taken a big step towards sustainability with its CSR project, ‘Lighting Lives’. This project, which is in line with the global Sustainability Strategy for 2030, aims to provide electricity to villagesin Maharashtra by installing solar panels. The companyalso reached the interim targets of its Sustainability strategy, setting new milestones for 2020 and published its 25th Sustainability Report.
 
‘Lighting Lives’ Project in India
As part of 2015-16 budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has set a deadline of May 1, 2018 for "100 per cent village electrification". Under the ‘Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana’, the ministry has allocated a fund of Rs 8,500 croresto achieve this key target of rural electrification. As a sustainability leader, Henkel through ‘Lighting Lives’, intends to contribute to this development story of India while continuing to shape the business responsibly and increase economic success.
 
This noble initiative, currently in the pilot phase, has seen installation of solar cells in three villages situated in the Palghar district of Maharashtra. The solar power generated has successfully supplied electricity to the homes of 150 people and to the schools attended by about 1,600 children. The project will be expanded to include other villages and public facilities.
 
Interim targets achieved – new ambitions for 2020
Achieving more while using less resources and tripling the efficiency by 2030 – that is the goal of Henkel’s Sustainability Strategy. The company has made great progress and has surpassed its interim targets for 2011 to 2015:

• energy efficiency improved by 18 percent
• water use by 23 percent
• waste volume by 17 percent
• occupational safety by 33 percent and
• sales by 11 percent

Overall, Henkel has improved the relationship between the created value and the environmental footprint by 38 percent.
 
The new targets
By 2020, the company intends to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions, water use and waste volume at production sites by 30 percent per ton of product compared to 2010. Occupational safety is to be improved by 40 percent and sales by 22 percent per ton of product. The achievement of these targets would result in an overall efficiency improvement of 75 percent by 2020 compared to 2010.
 
School project reaches around 63,000 children
As a company, Henkel aims to create more value with a reduced environmental footprint. It also encourages others to offer contributions for more sustainability; this goes beyond dialog with suppliers, customers and consumers. Henkel’s employees are at the centre of the Sustainability Ambassador program. As a part of the program, the company’s school project initiative continued to grow in 2015: Henkel’s employees receive training so that they are able to explain the importance of sustainable behaviour to others, including schoolchildren. Since 2012, around 6,200 Henkel employees have become Sustainability Ambassadors, and the program has reached around 63,000 schoolchildren in 43 countries.
 
Besides this, Henkel in India has an “Edu-care” project, which focuses on providing infrastructure support to needy government/ municipal schools located close to our plants/ offices.
 
Henkel’s achievements in sustainability were once again honored in 2015 by various sustainability ratings and rankings. Henkel was included once again in the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World” Index and was rated “Gold” by EcoVadis. The company also received RobecoSAM’s Silver Class award.
 
 
About Henkel
 
Henkel operates worldwide with leading brands and technologies in three business units: Laundry & Home Care, Beauty Care and Adhesive Technologies. Founded in 1876, Henkel holds globally leading market positions, both in the consumer and in the industrial businesses, with well-known brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite. Henkel employs about 50,000 people and reported sales of 18.1 billion euros and adjusted operating profit of 2.9 billion euros in fiscal 2015. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX.
 
Photo material is available at http://www.henkel.com/press
 
Contact       Sandhya Kedlaya                                                    Deepak Kapoor
                  Henkel India - Corporate Communications                 Media Agency – Perfect Relations
Phone         +91 9833844631                                                      +919833582474
Email           [email protected]                                [email protected]