Experience Expertise: Gabriel Kramer turns big ideas into sustainable tech for metal packaging

Some people have a gift for thinking outside the box—to enable more sustainable cans. Gabriel Kramer is one of those open-minded innovators. In his daily work, the Brazilian chemist explores bold ideas with the potential to cut costs, save power, conserve water and boost performance for metal packaging. And his latest success is empowering food and beverage canmakers worldwide to make measurable progress for sustainability…

Gabriel is the originator of Henkel’s low-temperature cleaning solutions for metal beverage cans. He came up with the concept and guided the technology through its development and market launch. Now, this product is improving cost efficiency and sustainability during the acid cleaning stage of canmaking processes around the globe.

Importantly, this sustainable innovation still achieves the same outstanding level of cleaning performance that customers in this market expect. However, the new cleaner can be applied at X degrees Celsius, which is X degrees lower than industry standard cleaners. That opens up big opportunities for customers to cut energy consumption and the related emissions.

Open dialog and co-innovation with a wide variety of partners has given Gabriel a deep understanding of the latest trends in the metal packaging industry. More and more customers approach him and his team with requests for new technologies that are aligned with ambitious targets for environmental responsibility, for example.

That inspires Gabriel’s work—and it is a perfect match with Henkel’s own commitment to sustainability leadership. People in our Product Development teams place a sharp focus on creating solutions that shrink our impact on the environment, while also empowering our customers to accelerate progress toward their own vision of a more sustainable future. 

The sustainability megatrend is gaining momentum. So is Gabriel’s passion for helping canmakers optimize their processes—without compromising on quality, performance or cost efficiency. Striking that balance between economic and environmental factors is a tough challenge. But that’s why Gabriel feels so proud of his innovations when they hit the market.

Looking ahead, Gabriel sees enormous potential for low-temperature cleaners and other sustainable innovations from Henkel to expand their contributions around the globe. He has high hopes that more customers in the metal packaging sector will approach him with fresh challenges to overcome together. And he’s excited to keep thinking outside the box— to enable more sustainable cans.