Henkel, a global leader in industrial and consumer goods, partnered with Carbon Minds to enhance GHG emissions data coverage, automate PCF calculations for 60,000 products, and improve customer communication.

In this interview, we sit down with Leonard Müller, Team Lead GHG Data Analytics at Henkel, to explore their journey in automating PCF calculations for adhesive products and providing greater transparency on GHG emissions to customers.

When you started this project, what was your goal? What were you trying to achieve?

Henkel holds leading positions in both industrial and consumer businesses. Our portfolio includes laundry & home care, hair and body care products, as well as adhesives, sealants, and functional coatings. Our products are used daily in millions of households and industrial processes worldwide. Given this extensive reach, Henkel also has a very broad portfolio of raw materials for which we aim to create the most accurate PCFs. Especially for our industrial customers, we seek to create transparency regarding the GHG emissions of our purchased raw materials, as it impacts their own footprint as well. By ensuring the accuracy of our data, we enhance our efficiency in navigating the net-zero transition. We can also offer low-emission products to our customers more effectively.

What barriers did you face?

One of the primary barriers we faced was the complexity of our value chains. They are highly complex and vary significantly between regions, primarily due to differences in feedstock availability and market demands. Additionally, our broad raw material portfolio further complicates the situation. The limited availability of reliable data has been a constant challenge for us, making it difficult to achieve the transparency and efficiency we strive for in our processes.

How did you overcome the barriers?

Carbon Minds offers a highly regionalized, technology-specific Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) database for a large variety of chemicals. This comprehensive resource allows us to better understand and navigate the complexities of our supply chains. The detailed technology and market modeling of the so-called “cm.chemicals database” accurately represent our highly complex value chains. Based on the database, we gained clear visibility into supply chain emissions across chemicals, regions, and technologies, and can also identify key levers for reduction.

With accurate data, we can more efficiently steer net-zero transition.

Leonard Müller
Team Lead GHG Data Analytics

What have you achieved in the end?

The cm.chemicals database has allowed the team at Henkel to significantly expand the scope and accuracy of our supply chain emissions data. Based on this information, we were able to automatically calculate Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) for more than 60,000 Henkel Adhesives products, substantially enhancing our communication of GHG emissions to our customers. This capability is critical in advancing our journey toward achieving net-zero emissions.

How did Carbon Minds support you along your journey?

Carbon Minds has been supporting us by offering a database that can be easily integrated into our existing workflows. This seamless integration facilitates customer-specific assessments of product life cycles and provides a comprehensive data overview.

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