Henkel India Collaborates with CleanMax to Boost Carbon-Neutral Manufacturing Initiatives

Bappa Bandyopadhyay, India Head, Operations & Projects, Henkel Adhesive Technologies and Akshai Raja, Head, Business Development (West India), CleanMax. Image source: Press release

Henkel Adhesives Technologies India Private Limited (Henkel India) partnered with CleanMax (a Brookfield-backed company) to achieve its goal of reducing absolute emissions in its operations. The partnership is a significant step to boost solar power utilization resulting in additional annual CO2 savings of over 4,500 tons in the company’s Kurkumbh and Thane manufacturing sites. This is equivalent to planting about 3,00,000 trees annually.

A single user group captive solar power purchase agreement (PPA) has been formalized between Henkel India and CleanMax. The captive power project is being set up in a solar farm located in Maharashtra, to be owned and operated by CleanMax. The partnership between the entities is rooted in a shared commitment to sustainable energy usage.

“We are happy to partner with CleanMax to achieve a significant milestone in our sustainability journey,” said S Sunil Kumar, Country President, Henkel India. Kumar added, “We are happy to have entered into this power purchase agreement (PPA), which will enhance Henkel’s contribution to climate protection. By increasing our use of green power and substantially lowering CO2 emissions, we are making a decisive move towards a more sustainable future. The power purchase agreement demonstrates how we can drive tangible progress in achieving our ambitious targets”.

Kuldeep Jain, Managing Director of CleanMax, said “CleanMax is proud to collaborate with Henkel India on their path to carbon-neutral manufacturing processes. We are focussed on being the sustainability partner of choice for corporates, and this partnership showcases the transformative power of green initiatives in achieving meaningful environmental progress”.

Henkel India’s adhesive operations already demonstrate a strong commitment to sustainability. While the company’s manufacturing processes in Chennai are entirely carbon neutral, its manufacturing processes in Rudrapur have also been converted to green electrical energy.  The PPA will enhance solar power usage in its Kurkumbh and Thane manufacturing sites, aligning with Henkel’s sustainability strategy.

For Henkel, its primary climate change mitigation focus is on its own production processes where it has set for itself ambitious timelines and absolute reduction targets to be achieved by 2030. To do so, it is focused on continually improving its energy efficiency and to use energy from renewable sources. As per the press release, the company will also set a net-zero pathway for its Scope 3 emissions, in line with the Science-based targets initiative (SBTi).