Henkel upped the amount of recycled content in its plastic packaging and set new net-zero emissions goals in 2024, according to the German consumer goods company’s newly released sustainability report covering that fiscal year.

The company behind brands like Dial soaps and Soft Scrub cleaners has been working to increase the share of recycled content in its plastic packaging for consumer products to more than 30% by 2025. As of 2024, it stood at 25%.

The company said it increased the PCR from 25% to 100% in hand soap bottles in the United States as part of its strategy to minimize its use of raw materials. It also increased the PCR to 50% in liquid detergent bottles in Europe and Mexico.

Henkel aims for 100% of its packaging to be designed for recyclability or reuse by 2025, and it was 89% of the way there in 2024. To improve the plastic packaging design for recycling, Henkel focused on aspects such as color, material composition and label and sleeve attributes.

The spending needed to support these packaging goals is “regarded as insignificant from a financial perspective,” the report says.

The CPG company said that by the end of last year it had reduced its scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions by 20% compared to 2021. It also reports reducing the CO2 emissions in its production per ton of product by 64% compared with a 2017 baseline. The company cited the supplier engagement program it launched last year as instrumental in reducing its scope 3 emissions footprint and boosting data transparency. 

As far as its new net-zero targets, which were validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, Henkel strives to reduce its absolute scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2045, compared with a 2021 baseline. In the short term, it aims for a 42% reduction of reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and a 30% reduction of absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 2030, compared to 2021.