Symrise placed among the top three in the special award category, resource efficiency, for the 2014 German Sustainability Awards presented in Düsseldorf on November 28, 2014.
In its statement, the jury noted that Symrise develops effective solutions with its products and processes that successfully contribute to resolving present and future societal challenges. Symrise sources one of its main natural raw materials, the onion, from the local Weser uplands region and processes them directly on site in Holzminden. This keeps transport distances short, saves on energy and storage costs and results in a neutral water balance. With the “SymTrap” procedure developed by Symrise for concentrating natural extracts, the company can extract maximum flavor from the onion while using 100% of the original material.
The company said the energy used in this process will soon be even more sustainable when the company’s own combined heat and power plant goes online. With this step, Symrise will save about 40% or 31,000 tons of CO2 each year. It will also reduce energy costs by about €650,000 per year.