SUSTAINABILITY
Citrus aromas, scents and d-limonenes are natural products that are easy on the environment. They’re carbon neutral, part of a renewable carbon cycle and biodegradable, too.
Citrus is one of the most important raw materials in the Symrise portfolio. In 2008, the company opened a new citrus-producing facility in Brazil, the Global Citrus Center in Sorocaba. It lies in the heart of the citrus world, close to the citrus plantations where around 50 percent of the world’s oranges and approximately 60 percent of the world’s lemons are harvested.
The Global Citrus Center allows Symrise to concentrate its raw materials locally while considerably improving the worldwide flow of citrus products. Less packaging and shipping creates a much smaller carbon footprint. Dr. Helmut Frieden, Corporate Vice President Corporate Compliance at Symrise puts it this way: “Our energy standards here in Brazil are exemplary. The country is self-sufficient and the energy matrix is one of the cleanest in the world. Around 85 percent of the energy is gained from hydroelectric power plants!”
Climate and environmental considerations play a key role in the supply chain, too. Producing vital products close to the citrus plantations saves energy and cuts emissions significantly. “We want to integrate production sites, markets and customers and save energy by reducing transportation costs and cutting carbon emissions,” Dr. Frieden adds. Last year, too, Symrise modified the extractive technique it uses for producing citrus oil concentrates in order to be able to switch to less harmful solvents, increase capacity and reduce energy consumption.
“The new extraction process uses only ethanol, which is a harmless solvent,” Dr. Frieden continues. “It is also faster, enabling us to minimize energy-intensive steps like distillation.” The Global Citrus Center in Sorocaba is now switching over to the new production technique.
Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, CEO at Symrise explains: “Our NATURALLY CITRUS®! platform strategy has long been to secure direct access to high-quality raw materials in our principle product segments so as to ensure the best and most dependable supply. We offer our customers absolute reliability and transparency when it comes to tracking the history of the raw materials we use. Years of collaboration with major citrus processors in South America have given us the wherewithal to control the entire citrus supply chain and guarantee a sustainable yield. We work closely with citrus processors in Brazil and are constantly cultivating new contacts at local research institutions and non-governmental organizations.”
