Symrise sustainability score: 37/100
Making progress starts at 46. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Symrise is a German maker of flavours, fragrances and food and pet-food ingredients, headquartered in Holzminden; its roots go back to 1874. It had about 12,700 employees and €4.9 billion sales in 2025.
Head office Holzminden, GermanyStaff ~12,745 (2025)Revenue ~€4.9B (FY2025)Website ↗
Symrise's total emissions rose 38.5% in 2025 to 3.5 MtCO2e, with supply-chain emissions up 40.6% after rising 15% the year before. About 78% of its energy is still fossil, and its claim of 100% renewable electricity rests mainly on certificates. It missed its targets for water use in stressed areas and for sustainable sourcing, and paid a New Jersey air-permit fine in 2022.
Symrise scores 37/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified October 2026.
That places Symrise joint 507th of 1,023 companies scored, and joint 7th of 17 in Chemicals.
What is Symrise doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain (7/10, 7/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Energy Source (1/10, 4/10).
Where Symrise lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Whether its emissions are fallingShow its emissions are falling.
- How clean its energy isShow at least half its energy is renewable, with a transition plan.
- Its effect on natureMeasure its effect on nature and have it independently verified.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain7/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling1/10No evidence its emissions are falling.
- How clean its energy is4/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature5/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste5/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water5/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets6/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies6/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Symrise's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Symrise's score changed?
Symrise's score has been reviewed 2 times and currently stands where it started, at 37.
- 37 → 377 November 2026
Correction, 7 November 2026: removed a related-company note naming a customer, supplier or partner without a source. Score unchanged.
- Scored 3727 October 2026
Initial public score 37 (publish-draft)
What evidence is Symrise's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
50% of them were published by Symrise itself; the rest come from independent sources.
6 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
“(PwC) was commissioned to perform a voluntary limited assur-”
“Change in absolute greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 3)”
“It intends to achieve net zero Group-wide by 2045.”
“On October 24, 2019, Symrise became a member of the global initiative RE100.”
“the company earned an A- rating for climate change, an A- for water security, and a B rating for forest stewardship”
“reducing absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Scopes 1 and 2 by 80 percent compared to 2020 by 2028”
“reducing absolute greenhouse gas emissions from Scopes 1 and 2 by 80% from 2020 to 2028”
“Symrise paid a $336,464 fine for multiple violations of its air emissions permit.”
“Marktoffensive Erneuerbare Energien (dena)”
“Symrise is politically neutral.”
“In the categories of forests and water, the Holzminden-based business achieved the top grade of A.”
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Symrise compare with other chemicals companies?
Where Symrise sits among chemicals peers.
Among the 17 major chemicals brands we've scored, Symrise is tied =7th of 17, with 2 others.
Who scores higher in Chemicals?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Symrise.
Croda has achieved long-term emissions reductions and secured SBTi validation for aggressive near-term targets, but recent year-on-year data shows Scope 1 rising and downstream emissions climbing.
See the breakdown →Givaudan has halved its own emissions since 2015 and has SBTi-validated net-zero targets, but its supply-chain emissions are still 4% above their 2020 baseline.
See the breakdown →MANE's absolute emissions rose in 2025, its total up 3.9% to 917,000 tCO2e, and all its reported progress is per tonne of product.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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