| Topic | Selected goals | Goal attainment 2021 | Management-methods | Value chain | SDGs |
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| Responsible sourcing | Increase the share of our suppliers1 rated according to sustainability criteria to 100 % by 2025. Responsible sourcing of all strategic biological raw materials by 2025. |
72.7 % of our suppliers1 assessed according to sustainability criteria. Sustainable sourcing of 83.6 % of our strategic biological raw materials in 2021. |
Supplier screening, certifications and audits; involvement in international (industry) initiatives (SAI, FSC, CDP Supply Chain program, Rainforest Alliance, RSPO, GIZ, Save the Children, IFFO, etc.) | Raw materials |
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| Climate protection & emission reduction | Symrise will be climate-positive starting in 2030. |
Reduction of our Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 36 % between 2016 and 2020. By 2025, we want to increase the eco-efficiency of emissions by more than 15 % compared to 2020. 85 % of our suppliers2 report greenhouse gas emissions. |
TCFD commitment, CDP climate change |
Product development & manufacturing processes |
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Customers and consumers |
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| Responsible use of raw materials | Annual reduction of 4 % of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in wastewater as well as our sensitive waste through increased eco-efficiency by 2025, or by a total of 60 % compared to 2010. | Efficiency of chemical oxygen demand in wastewater3 increased by 34.8 % in the reporting year – due to almost halving COD at the Jacksonville site in the United States. Increase in efficiency of sensitive waste3 by 2.2 % – goal missed mainly due to the commissioning of an additional site in China. | Green chemistry approach, recovery through patented SymTrap® process |
Raw materials |
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Products & manufacturing processes |
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| Good Corporate Governance & Compliance | By 2025, we are planning for an above-average global tax rate of 26 – 28 %. Ensure that all Symrise sites are audited in accordance with relevant standards. |
In 2021, our effective Group tax rate was 25.6 %. 100 % of Symrise sites audited in accordance with relevant standards. |
Further development of the Integrated Management System (IMS), external certifications, internal and external audits. | Raw materials |
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Product development & manufacturing processes |
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Customers & consumers |
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| Sustainable partnerships | Establish and increase trust, knowledge transfer and synergies between Symrise companies and NGOs, suppliers, political institutions and local partners. |
Continuation of long-term project partnerships. Joined new initiatives in 2021, including Business Declaration for Food Systems Transformation, AIM-Progress, The French Business Climate Pledge, UN Race to Zero & Exponential Roadmap Initiative. |
Involvement in a variety of international industry collaborations, partnerships and pre-competitive approaches. | Raw materials |
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Product development & manufacturing processes |
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Customers & consumers |
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| Innovative & sustainable product design | Annual development of new products consistent with sustainability criteria; these products account for a share of sales of more than 15 % over the past three years. | With 16.7 % of sales from new product developments4, we have once again exceeded our target value in the reporting year. | Market and trend research, consideration of regulatory requirements, product sustainability scorecard, green chemistry approachIntegrated management system, Nagoya Protocol Committee, Nagoya policy |
Product development & manufacturing processes |
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Customers and consumers |
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| Responsible use of water | Reduction of water consumption by 15 % at all production sites in arid regions by 2025. | Water consumption at all sites in Egypt, India and Mexico increased by 7.2 % – mainly due to a 13.7 % increase in production volumes. 70 % of our suppliers2 integrate water into their strategies and long-term business targets. |
Symrise water policy, CDP water |
Raw materials |
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Product development & manufacturing processes |
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| Protection of biodiversity | Responsible sourcing of all strategic biological raw materials by 2025. | Sustainable sourcing of 83.6 % of our strategic biological raw materials in 2021. | Sustainable supply chain management, raw material certifications, backward integration, CDP forestInvolvement in a variety of international (industry) initiatives. | Raw materials |
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| Product quality & safety | Maintain a high level of product safety management. | No significant product safety incidents in 2021. | Internal and external audits; safety certifications |
Product development & manufacturing processes |
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Customers and consumers |
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| Compliance with human rights | Increase the share of suppliers1 rated according to sustainability criteria to 100 % by 2025. | 72.7 % of our suppliers1 assessed according to sustainability criteria. | Internal and external audits and certification; supplier screening (SEDEX/EcoVadis) and supplier audits |
Raw materials |
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Product development & manufacturing processes |
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| Occupational health & safety | “Zero-accident culture” and reduction in frequency of accidents to MAQ < 1.5 by 2025. | Routine management safety visits by global managers.Continuous implementation of the “Drive to 100 % Safety” project through company-wide initiatives and training. | Management safety visits, ISO 45001 as of 2020, both internal and external audits, continuous safety training courses |
Product development & manufacturing processes |
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| Facility safety | Maintain a high level of safety management at the facilities. | No significant facility safety incidents in 2021. | Internal and external audits, certifications and inspections |
Product development & manufacturing processes |
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| Employee development & advancement | Maintenance and expansion of training courses and employee support at all sites. | Launch of the global digital talent management platform with various training courses and options to digitally manage individual development plans in 2021. 80 % of classroom training replaced with online training due to the coronavirus pandemic. |
Talent management, personnel development and employee recruitment |
Product development & manufacturing processes |
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| Diversity & equal opportunity | At least 30 %, women at the first global management level directly below the Executive Board and at least 45 % women at the second global management level by 2025. Long-term target of 20 % women on the Executive Board. |
Of the 10,971 employees worldwide in 2021, 4,434 were women. This corresponds to a proportion of 39.5 %. The share of women at the first level of management beneath the Executive Board amounted to 20 % in 2021; at the second level of management it amounted to 38 %. |
Integrated Management System, talent management, employee recruitment |
Product development & manufacturing processes |
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| Employer attractiveness | Maintain and increase site attractiveness, establish Symrise as an “employer of choice”. | Recognized among the top 10 companies in the chemical industry as one of the most “familyfriendly employers 2021” in Germany and Austria by employer review platform kununu. | Site activities, employee recruitment |
Product development & manufacturing processes |
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| Animal welfare | Fulfill animal welfare standards in our supply chain.100 % of our chicken-based raw materials in Europe procured from sustainable sources by 2026. | Drafting of a global guideline on handling animal experiments in 2020. Sourcing policy in the works that regulates the handling of animals used in the production of animal raw materials. |
Animal welfare policy, commitment to international animal welfare standards with partners, supplier qualification, supplier assessments and audits, traceability |
Raw materials |
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| Support of local communities | Maintain and expand collaboration with local partners and communities. | Tailored support for local communities (charitable, social) in areas where Symrise sources its strategic raw materials. | Needs assessments according to site |
Raw materials |
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You can find a thorough description of our management approaches with goals and descriptions of measures for all sustainability topics in our Sustainability record.