Henkel Wins Altair Enlighten Award for Next-Generation Metal Pretreatment Process
MADISON HEIGHTS, MI – More than 4 million vehicles are pretreated annually with Henkel’s next-generation metal pretreatment process, which recently received the second-place award in the sustainability category of the 2021 Altair Enlighten Awards. The award honors the greatest sustainability and lightweighting advancements in the automotive industry. Henkel’s Altair Enlighten Award recognizes the use of the PALLUMINATM metal pretreatment process on the 2021 Toyota Tacoma and Tundra.
Metal pretreatment is an essential part of vehicle production, as it enables paint adhesion to the vehicle body while preventing corrosion. Henkel’s next-generation metal pretreatment process, also referred to by Henkel as the Bonderite® Thin Film Process and PALLUMINA, reduces the manufacturing steps of a conventional metal pretreatment process from seven to four. Key environmental advancements include the elimination of heavy metal phosphates, such as zinc phosphate, nickel phosphate and manganese phosphate, up to a 90% reduction in sludge generation, up to a 40% reduction in energy and up to a 50% reduction in water usage.