The safety of flexible packages is a top priority in the food and packaging industry. The systems used must not only protect foods from external influences, but also exclude contamination from hazardous substances in the packaging materials themselves. This is where Henkel is setting new standards with its 4th generation of Liofol laminating adhesives, achieving an unprecedented standard of safety through their exceptionally fast curing.

Flexibility and highest bond strength – these are the characteristic attributes of hotmelts from Henkel. In Düsseldorf, more than 150 of these hotmelts are produced for a wide variety of applications. The main focus is on hotmelt adhesives that retain their surface tackiness even when they have cooled.

Henkel’s Liofol brand is backed by more than 80 years of adhesives know-how. Since its inauguration in 2002, the Technical Center in Düsseldorf has been a pivotal facility for intensive research and development. The Liofol team performs thousands of laminating trials every year, both for its customers and for its own purposes, including testing of novel laminating adhesives on its modern machines and equipment.

At Henkel, sustainability is a core business factor: Every year the company outlines the main ecological and social developments in its Sustainability Report.

Fungi, yeasts and bacteria – for some they may sound like a list of the most feared of pathogens, but for others they constitute living mini-factories capable of producing substances such as enzymes, citric acid and, lately, biosurfactants. “White Biotechnology” is the scientific term for industrial-scale production of substances with micro-organisms in closed systems. Indeed, without this technology, laundry and home care products would be significantly different than what we see today – because it is being used to an ever increasing degree in the manufacture of their key ingredients.

Just a few months after its launch, the newly developed Technomelt Supra Cool 130 from Henkel has already surpassed the high expectations put on it. Its benefits include high bond strength, excellent thermal stability, outstanding flowability, and a broader application spectrum than EVA-based hotmelts – and all of this at a processing temperature of only 130°C in the melter.

Henkel’s Corporate Report, comprising its annual report and its sustainability report, counts among the best in the world, according to a ranking of the 100 best corporate reports recently presented by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP). Henkel came in 11th overall, receiving a platinum award.

The toilet isn’t clean enough? A thing of the past! Bref Power Active offers an innovative combination of active components. As of summer 2010, it will be available in thirty European countries as the first toilet rim block with four active pearls in three different fragrances.

BASF Coatings GmbH and Henkel AG & Co KGaA have signed a joint venture agreement to develop innovative corrosion protection solutions for the automotive industry. The 50/50 venture, pending approval of the German anti-trust authorities, will be headquartered in Düsseldorf. The joint venture is anticipated to launch in early 2011.

Between June 30 and July 2, the Board of Trustees for Sustainability at Arizona State University (ASU), USA met with international experts from industry, the sciences and the political scene for a conference and exchange of views, knowledge and experience. The topics discussed ranged from the role of multinational companies and political programs to sustainability science in higher education.

In recognition of his outstanding doctorate thesis investigating the physico-chemical properties of foams, Dr. Enda Carey of Ireland received from Henkel the “Laundry and Home Care Research Award” conferred by the company for the first time, carrying a monetary prize of 3,000 euros.

For the second year in a row, US retail giant Walmart has selected Henkel to receive the Walmart Sustainability Award. Henkel was recognized again as the company demonstrating the most comprehensive commitment to sustainability, thus making a substantial contribution to Walmart’s own sustainability strategy.

Addressing the challenges posed by traditional greases and phase-change thermal interface materials, Henkel has developed and commercialized Loctite PowerstrateXtreme Printable (PSX-P), a new print-friendly thermal management product.

• Sales increase by 7.8 percent to 3,512 million euros
• Organic sales growth of 8.8 percent
• Adjusted operating profit: plus 79.1 percent to 421 million euros
• Adjusted EBIT margin: plus 4.8 percentage points to 12.0 percent
• Adjusted earnings per preferred share (EPS): plus 93.5 percent
  

Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ laundry sheets from Henkel received a Gold Award at the Edison Best New Product Awards presented by the Discovery Channel on April 29 in New York.  Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ laundry sheets were honored in the Consumer Packaged Goods Household Segment category.  The Edison Awards recognize new and innovative products in 11 categories in the spirit of Thomas Alva Edison, America’s greatest inventor and innovator.

Mind the Gap! Anyone who has traveled on the London Underground will be familiar with this safety notice. But “minding the gap” was also something that people had to do when using instant adhesives. With Loctite 3090, Henkel has now developed the first gap-filling instant adhesive, thus considerably expanding the range of uses.

Never content to rest on the laurels of its proven lead-free success, Henkel has developed and launched Multicore LF620: a new lead-free solder paste that effectively delivers on a broad range of demanding requirements, essentially offering a lead-free paste that has it all.

Eleven teams, one objective: to win the Henkel Innovation Challenge. At the international final of Henkel’s student competition in Amsterdam (Netherlands), exceptionally well prepared teams presented their creative ideas for the year 2050 – leaving the company’s top managers on the jury no easy task in selecting the winners.

Building on a rich history of industry honors and product accolades, Henkel Corporation was once again recognized for its innovation initiatives at the recent APEX event in Las Vegas, Nevada. Two of the company’s most recent product advances, Loctite PowerstrateXtreme Printable (PSX-P) and Hysol ECCOBOND CA3556HF, were at the top of the leaderboard for two well-established honors programs.

Neither accidentally glued fingertips nor chemical smell and always enough time to reposition while gluing with superglues. Not imaginable? The new Loctite Power Easy makes all this happen. Thanks to a new formulation Loctite Power Easy offers at least twice as much bonding time as standard Loctite superglues. So there’s no need to be afraid of applying superglues any longer.

For the fourth year in a row, Henkel is acting as an official sponsor of the IIHF World Championship. The company will be prominent with its corporate brand, its detergent brand Persil and its building technology brands Ceresit and Thomsit in the ice hockey arenas of Gelsenkirchen, Cologne and Mannheim.

Henkel provides clear benefits for composite customers with innovative solutions in structural bonding and mould release. From April 13 to 15, these technologies will be in the focus at the Henkel booth at JEC 2010 fair in Paris. The aim is to demonstrate the advantages of the products and exchange experiences with experts.

In aircraft engineering, there is an ongoing trend toward lightweight construction. New manufacturing methods and products for fiber reinforced composites lead to faster and cost-efficient production processes. For its innovative benzoxazine prepreg resin and film adhesive for Airbus A380 Auxiliary Power Unit housing Henkel and its partner Toho Tenax were selected as a JEC Innovation Award finalist.

At the JEC 2010 Henkel presents its wide range of product solutions which facilitate the manufacture of composite bonding in aircrafts. Especially for surface preparation Henkel has introduced the new resin-impregnated wet peel plies Hysol EA 9895 and 9896 WPP. Supplied in film form they were developed to increase bonding durability and to eliminate contamination of composite surface from dry peel fragments.

“Hidden champions” is the phrase that Thomas Geitner, head of the Adhesives business at Henkel, likes to use when talking about his products – because though they are mostly never seen, they are nearly always indispensable. The future potential of this advanced joining technology is just as strong as ever, even after a challenging year like 2009. Henkel’s Adhesive Technologies business sector is therefore well positioned for profitable organic growth.

Henkel has been included in the list of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” for the third year in a row. The ranking prepared by the US Ethisphere Institute recognizes companies from around the globe for their exemplary ethical approach to corporate governance and their commitment to sustainable development.

A slight, but unmistakable scent of vanilla pervades the hallway, and the attention of the visitor is captured by the nostalgic beauty of some antique Italian motorcycles decorating the room. What seems like the entrance to an exclusive spa or a fancy hang-out for motorcycle enthusiasts actually leads to a showroom for water taps and showerheads. But if you associate water taps and shower heads with the appropriate aisle in the hardware store, you need to think again.

Whoever travels from Europe or the American East Coast to Asia will fly over the Persian Gulf. Due to the geographic location and the young, up-coming airlines of the gulf-states, the Middle East Region records massive growth across all segments of the aerospace industry and leads in many ways in terms of innovation and expansion. For the second time now the MRO Middle East Conference & Exhibition takes place in Dubai. As a supplier of innovative adhesive systems for the aerospace industry, Henkel is also well represented at this event.

• Laundry & Home Care has substantially higher earnings
• Cosmetics/Toiletries continues very successful performance
• Adhesive Technologies shows strong recovery throughout the year
• Adjusted return on sales in Q4/2009 is 12.4 percent
• Net debt reduced by 1 billion euros
• Proposed dividends kept at prior-year levels

• 25 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions*
• 26 percent lower energy consumption*
• 37 percent lower water consumption*
• 12 percent less waste*

Around the world, Henkel has an extensive commitment to motor sports where reliable performance must be delivered in the most extreme conditions. At the Porsche Mobile 1 Supercup Henkel’s Loctite brand is once again present as an Official Technolgy Partner in 2010. With it’s cutting-edge adhesives and sealants technologies Loctite guarantees exceptionally high standards of race vehicle construction and maintenance for achieving best performance.

It all starts with an idea. A sudden thought. A solution to a recognized problem. But that is not enough. Those wishing to qualify for the ‘Fritz Henkel Award for Innovation’ have to implement that idea in practice – and prove its commercial viability in the marketplace. These are the criteria against which, each year, Henkel confers this much-coveted commendation on three winning teams of employees for the best product innovations.

For more than 134 years, Henkel has been combining leading brand quality with responsibility toward people and the environment. And its performance in this field has been recognized by numerous awards along the way. Now, in the special category ‘Decision-makers’ Best Sustainability Brand’, Henkel has been honored with the ‘2010 Best Brands Award’.

At the 2010 Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) Annual Meeting and Industry Convention, January 26 to 30, 2010 in Orlando, Florida, Henkel Laundry & Home Care awards two prizes. The “Best Innovation Contributor 2009” goes to Cognis for the best contribution of an external partner delivering outstanding consumer-relevant innovation. The “Best Supply Performance 2009” is conferred to Sasol for its outstanding operational supply performance.

Sustainability is fundamental to Henkel’s business DNA. However, affirmation of this through specific forms of recognition from industrial and retail customers is as important as it is gratifying. Three times in 2009, Henkel’s ‘Year of the Customer’, major international business partners awarded the company for special contributions made to their own efforts in the sustainability domain.