Although Henkel reported a 2% increase in production in 2013, the company reduced its energy consumption by 3%, largely due to more of its manufacturing sites using energy management systems, which it says “ensures that monitoring leads to continuous improvement”.

By the end of 2013, the company’s headquarters and 24 sites in its Laundry & Home Care business unit had been certified under the new standard for energy management, ISO 50001.

The cut in energy consumption helped the company reduce its carbon emissions by more than 3%. Henkel also reported that it has reduced total carbon emissions by 22% since 2009.

Speaking to edie, a spokesperson for Henkel said that by 2015, the company aims to make 15% reductions in energy use, water use, and waste production per production unit.

“By the end of 2013, we had achieved significant progress in all areas and had already reached our 2015 targets ahead of schedule in specific areas, such as our 15% improvement in energy efficiency,” the spokesperson said.

Looking into water, Henkel reported an increase in water consumption for the first time in three years. However, the rise amounted to less than 1% and was a result of the growth in production.

Despite total water consumption increasing slightly, the company was able to reduce wastewater by almost 5% in 2013 from 2012.

Since 2009, Henkel has reduced its water consumption by 25% and wastewater by 37%, due to its global optimisation programs, which includes water efficiency measures across many of its sites.

Leigh Stringer

Action inspires action. Stay ahead of the curve with sustainability and energy newsletters from edie

Subscribe