| Term |
Description |
Links |
24 Principles
(of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering) |
The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry (1998, developed by Paul T. Anastas and John C. Warner) aim to avoid contamination and waste, to make maximum use of renewable raw materials, to ensure the biodegradability of end products, and to use the energy needed for the reactions as efficiently as possible. The 12 Principles of Green Engineering (2003, developed by Paul T. Anastas and Julie B. Zimmerman) deal with the development of industrial processes that fulfill the tenets of sustainability. Cognis adopted these widely recognized 24 principles as its roadmap for the development of new solutions, products and processes. The aim is to further increase the proportion of natural-source raw materials, make better use of residues, further optimize catalysts, and make additional cuts in its emissions. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
24 Principles
Website:
U.S Environmental Protection Agency |
Action plan
"25 by 2012" |
Wideranging program launched in 2002. The aim is to further reduce Cognis' environmental impact and to achieve a 25 percent reduction in all the major indicators (specific energy consumption, emissions and wastewater, etc.) by the year 2012. The environmental targets are accompanied by ambitious goals in the fields of raw material sourcing, safety, health and human resources, focusing on the sustainability of Cognis' operations. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Action Plan |
| Adjusted EBITDA |
EBITDA stands for “earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization,” and is calculated as the company’s earnings minus its expenses for the production and selling of goods. The Adjusted EBITDA is defined as Cognis' operating result and does not take exceptional costs into consideration, for example one-time charges or expenses that are not caused by the usual operating processes. |
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| Audit |
Scrutiny, inspection, ascertainment of accountability. At Cognis, a systematic, independent and documented examination or review to determine compliance with both internal and statutory requirements and to ascertain that specified objectives and measures implemented are appropriate to satisfying these requirements. |
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| BDIH |
The BDIH, the Federation of German Industries and Trading Firms for pharmaceuticals, health care goods, dietary supplements and personal hygiene products, is an association of manufacturers and distributors that has developed a standard and a seal for certified natural cosmetics. The BDHI seal provides the consumer with a guarantee that the certified products were produced using only raw materials which meet the strict specifications (“BDIH-Standard”). About 40 products from Cognis Care Chemicals and Laboratoires Sérobiologiques are certified according to the BDIH-Standard, and more are in the approval process. |
Website Cognis:
GCS
Website:
BDIH |
| Biodiversity |
Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem or for the entire Earth. The use of natural resources and vegetal substances at Cognis is based on the strict principles of sustainability: to conserve biological diversity through sustainable use of natural resources; to work in partnership with local communities which produce or deliver natural-source raw materials; to foster the development of the region, and to ensure that the local population shares in the benefits. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
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| Biohub |
The European Biohub program explores the potential for using specialty carbohydrates as a raw material. |
Website:
Biohub |
| Carbon Disclosure Project |
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is the world’s largest initiative for the analysis of the effects of climate change on companies and their strategies. Cognis has been involved in the CDP since 2007 and has been supplying the CDP with data since then. The CDP is backed up by the Corporate Supply Chain Program, which records the CO2 emissions of the most important suppliers to multinational corporations. Manufacturers can retrieve this information from the central CDP database and incorporate it into calculations of their own CO2 emissions throughout the value chain. This enables them, even with respect to specific products, to determine their carbon footprint. Thus Cognis helps its customers to calculate their emissions and to manufacture end products offering good environment compatibility. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Emission Control
Website:
Carbon Disclosure Project |
| Carbon footprint |
A carbon footprint is the total amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service. It is expressed in grams of CO2 equivalents. This, in turn, is an internationally accepted measure that expresses the amount of GHGs in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide that would have the same global warming potential. Examples of such gases are methane and nitrous oxide. The carbon footprint is calculated using the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) method. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Emission Control |
| Cash Flow |
The cash flow of a company is a yardstick for its financial health. It indicates which financial resources are available for investing, debt repayments and interest payments. |
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| Clib 2021 |
CLIB 2021 (Cluster Industrielle Biotechnologie) captures the potential of innovation in industrial biotechnology. Cognis was among the founding members of the cluster. Today, it has more than 50 members, incl. global chemical companies, small and medium-sized enterprises, and academia. The starting point for CLIB2021 was the "BioIndustrie 2021" competition of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in 2007. CLIB2021 was awarded the 1st prize for the best cluster concept for establishing industrial biotechnology. |
Website:
CLIB |
| Cognis |
The name of our company immediately conjures up both its attributes and its aspirations. It is derived from the Latin “cognoscere”, meaning to perceive, recognize, be informed.These associations with knowledge and realization are also reflected in the Cognis logo - the iris of the human eye. |
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| Cognis College |
The Cognis College offers corporate training programs to address Cognis' global and regional Management Development in line with the company's Cultural Principles. This includes leadership trainings, finance trainings, sales academy trainings, etc. The College aims to improve Cognis’ performance and to foster a common company culture. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Learning for Success
Website Cognis:
Cognis College |
| Corporate Citizen |
An enterprise or company that behaves as a “good neighbor”, i.e. is aware of its social responsibility within its local and regional environment and acts accordingly. Cognis is committed to the principle of Corporate Citizenship. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Corporate Citizenship |
| Cultural Principles |
The cultural principles are the cornerstone of Cognis' corporate culture. They guide the company's actions as it pursues its vision and its goals:
- We at Cognis value a passion for customer success.
- We at Cognis value the concept of one team, one dream.
- We at Cognis value exceptional performance.
- We at Cognis value an empowering and rewarding
work environment.
- We at Cognis value change and innovation.
- We at Cognis value personal leadership.
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Website Cognis:
Cultural Principles |
| CHP |
Abbreviation for “Combined Heat and Power” generation, also Cogeneration. Designation for the combination of electricity generation and beneficial utilization of the associated waste heat. Because the large quantities of waste heat produced during electric power generation can be used for heating purposes - for example as process energy in production plants - cogeneration results in significant savings in primary energy and substantially reduced emissions. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Emission Control |
| COD |
Chemical Oxygen Demand - a globally accepted variable for determining pollutant levels in water and wastewater arising from contamination by organic substances. The COD value indicates how much Oxygen is required to oxidize organic substances completely to create CO2, H2O and nitrates or Sulfates. The basic rule reads: the smaller the COD is, the less the water is contaminated by organics. Cognis reports the COD of its clarified effluents from the in-house wastewater treatment plants connected directly to surface waters and the COD of wastewater streams routed to external sewage works. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Emission Control |
| Ecocert |
International control and certification organisation for organic products. The certification standards are developed in partnership with professionals, and are based on objective and measurable criteria. About 110 active ingredients, emollients, emulsifiers, surfactants, thickening and consistency giving agents and other products from Cognis Care Chemicals and Laboratoires Sérobiologiques already conform to the ECOCERT standards. |
Website Cognis:
GCS
Website:
Ecocert |
| Feelosophy |
Cognis Care Chemicals "Feelosophy" is about enhancing personal and home care applications to include the key dimensions of a holistic product experience: perception, feel, effect, and usage. The company systematically researches what consumers perceive and feel. It improves the effect of formulations and develops technologies that simplify product usage and boost convenience for consumers in daily life. |
Website Cognis:
Feelosophy |
| "Formula Nature" |
Around half the raw materials that go into Cognis' products originate from natural, renewable sources. This “Formula Nature” makes Cognis one of the world’s leading industrial users of environmentally compatible base stocks. Drawing on more than 160 years of experience and know-how in specialty chemicals based on natural, renewable raw materials Cognis continues to develop and further enhance its responsible usage of natural resources. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Sustainability Policy |
| FSC |
Abbreviation for "Forest Stewardship Council", a stakeholder-owned system for promoting responsible management of the world's forests. It accredits independent third-party organizations to certify forest product producers to FSC standards. |
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| Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) |
A system for ensuring uniformly high product quality and minimizing risks during production and release processes. The concept is based on predetermined, stringently applied procedures that are comprehensively documented to ensure subsequent traceability. The GMP specifications encompass all areas of production and laboratory analysis. They thus include control of starting material, hygiene regulations for employees and a thorough final inspection/release, and go far beyond the requirements of conventional quality assurance systems. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
GMP |
| GRAS |
Abbreviation for "Generally Recognized As Safe", an American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food ingredient classification. The GRAS status designates that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts, and so is exempted from the usual Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) food additive tolerance requirements. In July 2008, Cognis achieves FDA GRAS status for Tonalin CLA. |
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| GRI |
Abbreviation for "Global Reporting Initiative", a network-based organization that has pioneered the development of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework and is committed to its continuous improvement and application worldwide. The Cognis Sustainability Report is based on the core elements and indicators of the GRI content index. |
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| Green Chemical Solutions |
Cognis Care Chemicals' innovative transparent classification system for ingredients that help its customers decide on nature’s input and takes customer support to a new level. E.g., based on product-specific data, GCS provides clear information about any product in the Care Chemicals range at a glance. Each ingredient has been given a rating of up to four green leaves – indicating the proportion of natural, renewable components and how it is processed. |
Website Cognis:
GCS |
| Greenovating |
Greenovating is Cognis Functional Products' way of creating genuine “green” chemical solutions with quantifiable benefits for the agro, coatings, and lubricants markets. This includes application, efficiency, health, safety, toxicity, degradability and labeling.
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| IFRS |
Abbreviation for "International Financial Reporting Standards", a set of accounting standards developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Cognis reports its annual results according to these standards. |
Website:
IFRS |
| Incidence Rate (IR) |
Number of industrial incidents that result in the loss of at least one working day, related to a working period of 200,000 hours worked (corresponding to the average annual working time of 100 employees in Germany). |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Safety |
Cognis Innovation
Award |
The Cognis Innovation Award was first presented in 2001. Innovation and creativity are central to Cognis’ philosophy. This is why the company honors employees with its internal annual Innovation Award. It especially recognizes innovative processes, products and concepts which are environmentally sound, are putting the 24 principles of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering into practice or improve the company’s sustainable manufacturing methods. |
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| ISO 22000 |
Globally harmonized and recognized standard for management systems to ensure food safety. Certification is performed by accredited independent auditors. Cognis has established such a system at its production site in Illertissen, Germany (ISO 22000: 2005). |
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ISO 14001 and
ISO 9001 |
International standards applied throughout the world for the environmental management of companies and individual production sites (14001) and an integrated, comprehensive quality management system encompassing all stages of a product from development and material procurement to production, laboratory analysis and supply chain/shipment to the customer (9001). In 2001, Cognis became the first chemicals company to receive worldwide certification according to both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. Since then, the certificates have been successfully renewed every three years. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
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| Key Values |
Cognis key values describe the specific core ompetencies and outstanding
performance capabilities of the company: Strategy: Nature, Innovative Strength,
Intelligent Solutions, Customer Care, and Sustainable Development. They clearly indicate what Cognis intends to achieve now and in the future, as well as why the company is a valuable partner for its customers. |
Website Cognis:
Key Values |
| Life Cycle Analysis |
A life cycle analysis (LCA; also known as life cycle assessment, life cycle inventory, ecobalance, cradle-to-grave-analysis, well-to-wheel analysis, and dust-to-dust energy cost) is the assessment of the environmental impact of a given product or service throughout its lifespan. Cognis uses LCA to assess the raw material input, energy consumption, effluent, greenhouse gas emissions, and nonrecyclable solid waste materials in order to generate the environmentally relevant facts and figures. |
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| LOHAS |
Acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. Describes a market segment focused on health and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social justice. |
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| Lost Day Rate |
Total number of lost workdays due to Lost Time Accidents related to 200,000 worked hours (i.e. related to a common exposure base of 100 full-time-workers, as 100 fulltime equivalent workers working 40 hours per 50 weeks per year = 200,000 hours). |
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| Lost Time Accidents |
Workplace accidents that involve one full day or more off work or more days beyond the day of a work-related injury or the outbreak of a work-related illness. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Safety |
| Megatrends Wellness and Sustainability |
An increasing awareness among people of the need to find balance between body, mind and spirit, along with being a good citizen by balancing economic demands with ecological and social compatibility, has given rise to two major trends: wellness and sustainability. Cognis is perfectly placed to profit from these two megatrends and has turned them into a supporting pillar of its basic business strategy.
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Cognis Website:
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| Net working capital |
Net working capital (NWC) represents the money that a company spends on maintaining its day-to-day operations. It is calculated as the value of inventory and accounts receivable, minus the value of accounts payable. It does not include capital assets such as property and equipment, or corporate borrowings. |
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| New Green |
The New Green lifestyle means people want the best of both worlds: the quality, convenience and well-being offered by state-of-the-art products combined with sustainability.
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| Newtrition |
Newtrition™ Eat. Feel.Live. is an innovative concept from Cognis Nutrition & Health. It is about shaping the well-being factor of Cognis' customers’ products in the food & beverages and dietary supplements markets. The concept focuses on four dimensions of well-being: emotional perception, taste sensation, effect and convenience. The products the concept includes offer well-being benefits such as inner balance, vitality, protection, joy & pleasure, and beauty |
Website Cognis:
Ingredient Brands |
| NSF Center |
Research platform with major European and US industries participating, focusing on biocatalysis and bioprocessing of macromolecules. |
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| OEA |
Abbreviation for "Objective Emotional Assessment"; assessment of involuntary
emotional consumer reactions to personal care products, enabling
substantiation of claims for wellness effects. OEA was developed and introduced in cooperation with Wuppertal university.
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Website Cognis:
Feelosophy |
| Open innovation |
Open innovation is about making a systematic effort to ensure all relevant internal and external stakeholder groups are involved in the innovation process at Cognis. Cognis cooperates closely with companies and academic institutes from all over the world to drive its innovation process. The company e.g. participates in innovation networks, such as CLIB 2021 in the field of industrial biotechnology or the European BIOHUB program which explores the potential of specialty carbohydrates as a raw material. |
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| Palm oil products |
Cognis uses coconut and palm kernel oil (share of more then 95 percent of our oil demands) and to a lesser extent palm oil (less then five percent) and processes those into raw materials for the cosmetics, detergent and cleaners industries, as well as into technical applications like coating additives or synthetic lubricants. As a longtime active member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the company is committed to and involved in developing criteria for the sustainable farming, processing and use of oil palm products and to seeing them implemented. |
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| PIK loans |
PIK means "pay in kind" or "payment in kind". The coupons on PIK notes/loans are payable only after the notes have matured, meaning that there is no immediate increase in the company’s debt repayment burden. In 2005, Cognis Holding in Luxembourg made a subordinated pay-in-kind loans issue due 2015 with a total value of 500 million euros via its financial holding company. In this way, the company replaced high-interest capital from its shareholders with external capital which was available at a lower rate of interest. Until June 30, 2009, Cognis bought back PIK loans with a face value of 198 million euros in a series of open-market transactions. |
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| Private equity |
Private equity, generally speaking, is capital that is provided by
private and institutional investors, invested mostly in companies not
(publicly) traded on the stock exchange, and packaged in funds. Prior to 1999, Cognis was a division of Henkel. In that year, it was carved out as a separate company, and it was subsequently (November 2001) sold to private equity funds advised by Permira, GS Capital Partners, and SV Life Sciences. |
Website Cognis:
Owners |
| REACH |
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of CHemicals (REACH) as required by a European Union Regulation of December 18, 2006. REACH addresses the production and use of chemical substances, and their potential impacts on both human health and the environment. It is the strictest law to date regulating chemical substances and will impact industries throughout the world. REACH entered into force in June 2007, with a phased implementation over the next decade. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
REACH |
| Responsible Care |
A worldwide initiative developed by the chemical industry. It represents a commitment to continuous improvement in safety and the protection of health and the environment, irrespective of the statutory requirements imposed in the different countries of the world. The purpose is to establish achievable goals so as to ensure that future planning is ecologically, economically and socially sustainable. Cognis too has joined this initiative. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Responsible Care |
| RSPO |
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a multistakeholder platform which aims to promote the production, procurement and use of sustainable palm oil. RSPO provides an environment where palm oil producers, traders, processors, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks, environmental NGOs and social NGOs can discuss and develop a definition of sustainable palm oil. This has resulted in a set of Principles & Criteria for sustainable palm oil production. However, it will take time to implement these principles throughout the supply chain in its entirety and to the full extent.
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Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Sustainable Palm Oil
Optional Website:
RSPO |
| SA 8000 |
Abbreviation for "Social Accountability", a standard developed in the 1990s by the Social Accountability International (SAI) organization. It combines the requirements and guidelines of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Convention of the United Nations on the Rights of Children, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Working Conditions |
| SHE and SHEQ |
Abbreviations (alternatives such as “HSE” and “EHS” are also encountered around the world) that stand for “Safety, Health, Environment”. These various acronyms have become established in the last few years as a general heading for an integrated approach to environmental protection, i.e. one that takes into account health and safety considerations. Cognis takes this integration one step further, hence the additional Q for “Quality”. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
SHEQ |
Sustainability
Council |
In 2008, a new Sustainability Council was founded. Members are: Marketing Managers of the SBU’s and functional leaders from SHEQ, HR, R&D, Corporate Communications, Purchasing, Process Technology, Production and PSR. The aim is to discuss and implement sustainability topics or requirements from customers or other stakeholders. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
We have principles |
Sustainability
Policy |
To formalize its ongoing commitment to sustainability, Cognis has now introduced a sustainability policy. This consists of ten statements that explain how Cognis intends to conduct its business in a sustainable way. It covers such areas as environmental protection, the 24 Principles of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, staff development, and the importance of safety in Cognis’ day-to-day operations. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Sustainability Policy |
| Sustainable development |
All of Cognis’ activities are based on the principles of sustainable development: Achieving a sensible balance between economic, ecological and social needs, without compromising the development opportunities of future generations. Cognis’ understanding of sustainability covers four areas: products, company, people, environment. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Sustainable Development |
| SBU |
Cognis consists of three strategic business units (SBUs), which are aligned with the markets of its customers’ customers: Care Chemicals, Nutrition & Health, Functional Products. |
Cognis Media Center:
Business Structure |
| Time to market |
The length of time it takes from a product being conceived until it is available for sale. Cognis continually works on a further reduction of the time to market for new ideas. Innovations can only be profitable, if they meet the specific demands of markets and consumers. Time is of essence here. |
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| VOCs |
Abbreviation for Volatile Organic Compounds. These are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. |
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Workplace
accident |
A workplace accident is any injury, such as cut, fracture, sprain, etc. resulting from a time-limited event or exposure in the work environment. Note: Conditions resulting from animal bites, such as insect or snakebites, and from one-time exposure to chemicals are also considered to be workplace accidents. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Safety |
| Yamana |
Yamana is an NGO that has for many years helped companies to put sustainable development at the heart of their business. In particular, it has helped to promote the issue of CSR within the textile industry (through its “Fibre Citoyenne” program). Laboratoires Sérobiologiques (LS), Cognis Care Chemicals active ingredients business, cooperates with Yamana for its Argan program in Morocco. |
Cognis Sustainability Portal:
Case Study Argan |