“With our innovative solutions, we are meeting needs in the areas of nutrition, health and well-being...

in doing so, we are always thinking about future generations: We assume social responsibility, create pioneering technologies and focus on resource-friendly processes.”

Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, CEO
 

New partnerships in 2023

The following new initiatives, commitments and collaborative alliances were joined and signed:

  • Renewable Carbon Initiative
  • Low Carbon Transition Project
  • ProSpecieRara

SDGs

From generating raw materials to our customer relationships, we contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) along our entire value chains.

The 17 global sustainability objectives defined by the organization pave the way for sustainable development and provide the framework for what we as a company can and must achieve to guarantee successful operations in the future as well. Due to our broad positioning and our multilayered business model, we ultimately have to keep an eye on all of the goals. However, we are aware that we cannot tackle every goal equally but must focus on those where we can make the most effective contribution.

On the basis of the SDG subgoals, we identified six SDGs (8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17) on which Symrise can have a particularly large impact through its business activities:

Our sustainability focus

Our focus


In our increasingly interconnected world, we’re clear in our ambition to be a sustainable and future-oriented business.

Our corporate strategy is systematically oriented toward achieving sustainable growth, with four key pillars setting the sustainability agenda across our business.

By focusing on FootprintInnovation, Sourcing and Care, we link our economic goals to our everyday responsibilities to the environment, employees and society.

Our sustainability commitments sit across four key pillars

Footprint

Minimizing our environmental footprint across the value chain

Innovation

Maximize the positive social & environmental impacts of our products

Sourcing

Maximize the sustainability of our supply chain and raw materials

Care

Improve the well-being of our stakeholder communities

Addressing UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through our four key pillars

Footprint

Taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

As a company, we’re responsible for minimizing any negative effects we have on the climate. Our goal is to scale back resource consumption to actively minimize our impact on the environment. We want to be climate-neutral starting in 2030.

Our production sites with the highest potential environmental impact are located in countries with strict environmental policies and/or operate according to our ISO 14001-certified environmental management system. Furthermore, all our German sites feature an ISO 50001-certified energy management system.

We’re improving our footprint

Innovation

Promoting sustainable industrialization

Innovation forms the foundation of our work. Through sustainable product development, we help to reduce our own consumption of resources and energy – as well as that of our customers and ultimately all consumers.

As early as 2012, we introduced a process for logging and assessing our sustainability performance in product development. We’re constantly developing existing products, focusing on redesigning and completely overhauling processes using modern chemistry and innovative technologies.

Innovation is fueling our sustainability

Sourcing

Optimizing our supply chain and raw material sourcing

Our new assessment system enables us to identify the specific impact of our products on sustainability, allowing us to steer our product development with the greatest precision. Currently we cover 85 % of our global product volume this way, comparing the respective sustainability impact for over 1,300 raw materials and almost 2,000 products.

Other areas of focus include optimizing existing agriculturally-based products, integrating suitable co-products wherever possible and developing new manufacturing methods in partnership with other institutions and companies.

Our responsible sourcing initiatives

Care

Promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

We believe that economic success, sustainability and social acceptance are inextricably linked. No matter where in the world our workers are based, we work hard to create a company culture that reflects these shared values. Our Code of Conduct is central to this: it is the common basis from which we have built our reputation as a reliable company of exceptional integrity.

Additionally, our Integrated Management System is binding throughout the company and derived from the conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on Children’s Rights.

Placing care at the heart of our working environments

Adding value for Symrise, adding value for society

Symrise actively supports the United Nations SDGs. In order to determine both the relevance of the individual goals and the opportunities for Symrise to contribute to them, we conducted a materiality analysis together with our stakeholders to assess the impact of our business activities on people, the environment and society.

The result: focus areas where we can make the greatest impact

Our sustainability goals

Our goals

Specific goals are set for each of our four pillars for the period up to 2025. These are directly related to our key topics and are derived from a number of programs including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

How we achieve our goals

Everyone is called upon to constantly monitor the work processes in their own field of activity and responsibility for efficiency, safety and resource conservation, and to develop ideas for improvement.

A global network of more than 120 Sustainability Ambassadors promotes targeted initiatives on energy and waste management, climate, water and environmental protection, and occupational health and safety at the corporate locations.
Managers are responsible for operationalizing sustainability in their teams and laying out clear goals. The global, cross-business Symrise Sustainability Board manages integration of our sustainability principles into the core processes:
Under the chairmanship of the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), division and staff department management representatives come together multiple times per year to ensure that sustainability-related topics and the concerns of our important stakeholder groups are considered along the entire value chain. The Sustainability Board sets sustainability objectives, which are directly implemented in the respective divisions.
Direct responsibility for strategy lies with the Chief Executive Officer of Symrise AG, who receives regular reports on the progress of all sustainability activities.

Creating sustainable success for all stakeholders

It’s important that everyone we interact with feels the benefits of our sustainable approach

We’re constantly on the lookout for common ground and sound solutions that allow every stakeholder – from farming communities to end-consumers – to benefit.

Contact

Symrise Friedrich-Wilhelm Micus

Friedrich-Wilhelm Micus

Director Corporate Communications

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Corporate Report 2023

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Discover how innovation is helping us become more sustainable