Press Room
February 10, 2006
German Version
Cognis Innovation Award 2005 won by market-led innovations
Specialty chemicals supplier Cognis gives its annual internal Innovation Award in recognition of ideas that are market-led, performance-oriented, environmentally sound and targeted on growth markets. This year’s Innovation Award was conferred to the group responsible for developing PuricareTM and PurisoftTM – two innovative active ingredients, based on botanical peptides from the seeds of the Moringa tree, that purify hair and skin and offer protection against the effects of pollution. The second winning team worked on improving the efficiency and safety of manufacturing processes for the Agnique? KE 3308 and Agnique KE 3658 green agrochemical solvents, thereby enabling Cognis to increase productivity without any loss of product quality.
“To maintain success in our markets, we rely on the ideas and expertise of our staff,” says Cognis CEO Antonio Trius, “and the Innovation Award recognizes the importance of these. For Cognis, ‘innovation’ means constantly offering customers new and viable solutions that add tangible value and help ensure the long-term success of their business.” The entries for this year’s award came from project teams across 13 countries, many of them international and cross-functional in composition. Virtually every area of Cognis’ business was represented among them. Altogether the teams comprised about 150 Cognis employees. The Cognis Innovation Award is not only open to those responsible for new products – it is just as likely to go to a new marketing approach or a process innovation.
Innovation Award 2005 for purifying, anti-pollution actives
This year’s Innovation Award was given to a Laboratoires Sérobiologiques team based in France: they received the award in recognition of their work on developing Puricare and Purisoft, two innovative active ingredients, derived from the seeds of the Moringa tree, that purify hair and skin, and offer protection against the effects of pollution. The ingredients enable formulators to create natural-source products with excellent cosmetic benefits, and are another example of Cognis’ philosophy of sustainability in action. This is based on the belief that sourcing should be carried out in an environmentally responsible manner that is compatible with socio-economic considerations, and as a result Cognis works closely together with local communities.
Innovation Award 2005 for improved “green” solvent production processes
The Innovation Award 2005 was also conferred to a Functional Products team that has made a series of improvements to the manufacturing process for the Agnique KE 3308 and Agnique KE 3658 green solvents. The new process has not only made production more efficient, but also more sustainable. As a result, it helps Cognis and its customers to comply with current environmental and toxicological regulations, and anticipates future ones.
Innovating for a successful future
First held in 2001, the aim of the annual Cognis Innovation Award is to encourage creativity and original thinking among Cognis staff. However, entries are not judged solely on the degree of innovation, but also on the potential competitive benefits for Cognis’ customers and on their fit with Cognis’ strategy of developing sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions.
About Cognis
Cognis is a worldwide supplier of innovative specialty chemicals and nutritional ingredients. The company employs about 8,000 people, and it operates production sites and service centers in 30 countries. Cognis has dedicated its activities to a high level of sustainability and delivers natural source raw materials and ingredients for food, nutrition and healthcare markets, and the cosmetics, detergents and cleaners industries. Additionally, Cognis provides solutions for a number of other industries, such as coatings and inks, lubricants, textiles and plastics, as well as agriculture and mining.
Cognis is owned by private equity funds advised by Permira, GS Capital Partners, and SV Life Sciences. In 2004, Cognis recorded sales of 3.07 billion euros and an Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and exceptional items) of 362 million euros.
Cognis Innovation Award for anti-pollution purifying active
ingredients for skin and hair
Cognis Innovation Award for improved “green” solvent production
processes
Contact
Wulf Klüppelholz, Corporate Communications Manager
Cognis Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
Phone: +49-2173-4995-221
E-mail: wulf.klueppelholz@cognis.com
Internet: www.cognis.com