Henkel Hosts SP’s 3rd Quarter Meeting of 2019

The 3rd Quarter meeting of Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) was hosted last week by Henkel in Madison Heights, Michigan. Special thanks to Carrie McGuire, Bashar Kirma and the Henkel team for their support in hosting the meeting.

SP membership meetings provide an opportunity for members to share environmental best practices and strategies with their industry peers, learn about emerging issues impacting the environment and their business operations, and to identify opportunities for collaborative action through SP. 

Pre-Meetings and Activities – July 16

The first day of the meeting began with a workshop on end of life management of advanced vehicle batteries organized by SP’s Responsible Battery Work Group. This work group provides a forum for SP members to work together to advance responsible management of advanced vehicle batteries and this workshop brought together different stakeholders from across the vehicle battery value chain to explore opportunities for pre-competitive collaboration to advance sustainable practices across the battery lifecycle. The meeting included speakers from East Penn, ERA Environmental, Ford, GM, Honda, Indie Power Systems, RSR Technologies, Toyota, University of Michigan, US DOE and the World Economic Forum.

A meeting of SP’s Emerging Professionals Work Group – which is working to pilot fresh, innovative associate engagement initiatives at member companies through benchmarking and collaboration with fellow, diverse industry professionals within the SP network – also took place later that morning.

The day concluded with a meeting of SP’s EHS Forum – chaired by Jack Nunes (Lear) and Greg Rose (FCA) – which is designed to provide an opportunity for deeper discussion on key EHS issues impacting SP members. The theme of this quarter’s EHS Forum was ESG Disclosure Expectations and Trends, and included presentations from Sharon Basel (General Motors) and Samantha Sue Ping (MSCI).

Q3 Membership Meeting – July 17

The following morning, SP’s Chair Randy Leslie (Johnson Controls) opened SP’s 3rd Quarter Meeting of 2019 and introduced Bashar Kirma and Rory Walters (Henkel) who welcomed SP members and shared information on Henkel’s sustainability strategy and progress.

The morning continued with updates on current SP working group initiatives related to biodiversity, EHS, IMDS data quality, materials efficiency, responsible battery management and emerging professionals.

In addition to SP project updates the meeting included presentations from SP members and guests on current and emerging sustainability and business issues, including Greg Rose (FCA), Martin Chilcott (Manufacture 2030), Joe Day (TerraCycle Regulated Waste), Joanne Ewald (Mend on the Move), Nena Shaw (US EPA), Alexis Cain (US EPA Region 5), and Steve Lachance (Michigan EGLE).

Following the meeting, members had an opportunity to tour Henkel’s Madison Heights offices including the onsite Acoustics Center and Pilot Line, and to take part in small group demonstrations to review the company’s impregnation technology. SP members may access presentations and minutes from the meetings on SP’s Members Only site.  

SP’s 4th Quarter Meeting of 2019 will be held on October 23-24 at Abednego, a Nalco Water Company in Naperville, Illinois. Please contact us if you’d like more information, or to learn more about SP membership opportunities.