Symrise commits to corporate responsibility compact
The move means the global ingredients firm, which has its headquarters in Germany, has committed itself to united business growth with societal and environmental concerns.
The UN created the Compact 12 years ago. By signing the agreement all members, particularly companies and organisations, commit to 10 universally accepted basic principles of sustainable and ethical economic activity. These include banning child labour, fighting corruption and promoting environmental activities.
The Compact sets standards for human rights, labour rights, environmental protection and anti-corruption measures. Since its inception, the compact has been signed by more than 8,000 companies, including many of Symrise’s customers, investors and suppliers.
Sustainability vision
“We share the principles of the global compact and have long lived by them at Symrise with our sustainability vision and strategy,” said Dr Heinz-Jurgen Bertram, chief executive of Symrise. “For us, worldwide economic success goes hand-in-hand with societal and environmental responsibility. We are convinced that sustainability supports our growth ambitions and look forward to actively participating in the Global Compact Network.”
The move fits the company’s ongoing strategy with regard to responsible governance and sustainability. It has published regular sustainability reports for the past six years. These reports outline progress on the firm’s goals in areas such as environmental care, efficiency and safety.
Its 2011 report showed that since 2007, Symrise had slashed water consumption by 31%, energy intake by 23%, greenhouse gas emissions by 23% and workplace accidents by 46%.
Symrise sources bourbon vanilla from Madgascar and is fully integrated into the country’s economy, assuming full responsibility for local societal and ecological issues.
