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What makes a fragrance sustainable? The answer to that question is being continually reimagined as new technologies and resources transform how scents are created. What is clear, however, is that sustainability is no longer just a buzzword in the industry — it’s a cornerstone in the evolution of fragrance.
At the forefront of this changing landscape is dsm-firmenich, the perfume and flavors manufacturer driving innovation across beauty, health, and nutrition. The bioscience company is committed to what it calls “conscious perfumery”: a 360° approach to fragrance that embeds sustainability into every stage of development so it’s intrinsic to the process rather than an afterthought.
Making perfumes more eco-friendly has been a focus of the industry for some time. But the post-pandemic fragrance boom has created a growing urgency to prioritize its planetary and human impact. According to Euromonitor’s 2025 World Market for Beauty and Personal Care Report, fragrance is expected to account for 23% of the beauty industry’s overall growth from 2024 to 2029, with a projected CAGR of 5.5%. This momentum puts added pressure on scent makers to accelerate their sustainability efforts as 71% of global consumers seek more eco-friendly products, per dsm-firmenich’s research.
Michal Benmayor, VP of Global Perfumery Innovation and Sustainability at dsm-firmenich
“The beauty industry is facing an eco-turning point,” said Michal Benmayor, VP of Global Perfumery Innovation and Sustainability at dsm-firmenich. “In the last few years, a company’s commitment to sustainability was measured in how bold their ambitions were. Now, it’s about doubling down to make those promises a reality. The focus has shifted from being goal oriented to action led.”
To fuel transformative progress, dsm-firmenich is advancing four key sustainability targets in their perfumery division to achieve by 2030. The company is rolling out new tools and strategies across every stage of scent creation, from ingredient innovation and responsible sourcing to improved manufacturing practices and full portfolio transparency — all designed to make it easier and more intuitive for perfumers to formulate sustainably. “If sustainability is built into the creation process from the first step, you don’t have to think about how to make an eco-conscious fragrance, because you’re naturally set to do so,” said Benmayor. Here, she outlines the company’s four sustainability targets and how they are bringing them to life over the next five years and beyond.
Target #1: 100% lifecycle assessment and sustainability data across the entire dsm-firmenich ingredient and fragrance portfolio
To pinpoint hotspots where they can improve sustainability, dsm-firmenich took on the daunting task of scrutinizing every one of their over 2,000 fragrance ingredients and many more fragrances to measure its individual impact on the planet. The company relies on rigorous data analysis to understand their environmental footprint, with life cycle assessment (LCA) serving as a central tool.
“Through LCA, we can evaluate the full environmental impact of an ingredient or fragrance, from the amount of energy used in its creation ingredient yield, to the processing and transportation required along the way,” explained Benmayor. “We can capture the impact of all the elements involved in the product.” After initially partnering with an external partner to compile this data, the company built an in-house team dedicated to the task, which dramatically accelerated their progress. “We went from having 50% of our portfolio assessed to over 99% in under two years,” she said. “Creating our own internal team not only lets us own our methodology, but it’s been a major catalyst in moving us toward 100% mapping of our entire fragrance portfolio. A major milestone we have already reached. Every ingredient now carries a complete sustainability assessment profile. More than a target achieved, it is the foundation of our decarbonization journey.”
This will enable dsm-firmenich to have transparent conversations with their clients about the carbon footprint of each ingredient or fragrance they offer. “We’ll be able to say, for each kilogram of this scent, this is how much energy —or CO₂ equivalent emissions— was invested into it,” Benmayor noted.
Target #2: 25% reduction in carbon emissions
The company is using their robust data and measurement systems to drive an ambitious decarbonization agenda across the entire organization. Dsm-firmenich has committed to be Net Zero by 2045, a target which has been validated by SBTi.
This ambition is matched by performance: the company was recently awarded CDP A ratings for both Climate and Water, placing it among the global leaders recognized for delivering measurable progress and transparent environmental action. These distinctions matter, Benmayor emphasized, because they signal to partners and clients, that dsm-firmenich’s climate commitments are backed by real results—not just promises.
To meet this mission, the company has identified three key levers for reducing their carbon footprint: partnering with suppliers to source lower-impact raw materials, optimizing production to reduce waste and increase yields, and collaborating closely with perfumers on eco-design strategies that help them craft beautiful, performant fragrances.
“Eco-design sits at the heart of this transformation,” said Benmayor. “We’re working to develop concentrated scent ingredients, where a tiny drop delivers the full olfactive power of the fragrance. We’re also focused on circularity and procuring ingredients from the waste streams of other industries. For example, partnering with juice manufacturers to buy their discarded fruit peels, from which we can extract citrus oils. Or working with jasmine flower markets in India to buy their unsold inventory, and with furniture manufacturers to take their leftover wood chips for extracting woody essential oils.”
The company’s EcoScent Compass® digital program, launched in 2018 and which they updated in 2023, allows clients and perfumers to access more than 80 real-time data points about the sustainability of every aspect of fragrance creation, from the ingredients to sourcing to production. “The program is integrated into the perfumer’s digital system so they can make informed choices in the moment as they’re creating a fragrance,” explained Benmayor. “It’s not a separate entity where they’re bouncing between their system and our program to check, ‘Is this ingredient sustainable?’” It’s digitally embedded into their creative station, so all the information is available to them as they’re developing the scent.”
Target #3: 90% of washable products are ultimately biodegradable
Another major sustainability goal focuses on biodegradation: ensuring that as fragrance ingredients get rinsed away in wastewater systems, they break down safely and swiftly.
“We’ve committed to having 90% of our fragrance portfolio for washable products meet the ‘ultimately biodegradable’ standard by 2030, meaning that more than 60% of the ingredient safely decomposes within 60 days,” said Benmayor. This is a meaningful benchmark, she noted, because an ingredient that breaks down that quickly have minimal lasting impact on the environment.
Much of dsm-firmenich’s fragrance palette is already biodegradable, as the company has spent the last 15 years prioritizing biodegradability when developing new ingredients and scents. “An ingredient either biodegrades or it doesn’t,” said Benmayor. “It’s not something you can alter once the formula is made, so it’s a critical element of our design process from the start.”
The company is also revamping their encapsulated scents: fragrance molecules enclosed in microscopic capsules that burst upon friction to release the aroma. Often used in home products like laundry detergents and fabric softeners, encapsulation extends a fragrance’s long-lasting power, and dsm-firmenich has developed a new generation of biodegradable capsules where both the fragrance inside and the shells break down safely. “The sustainability benefit is two-fold, because encapsulation delivers fragrance more efficiently, with less product needed to create long-lasting, full-power scent,” Benmayor explained. “And now, we’ve made the entire composition of encapsulation biodegradable, too.”
Benmayor points to another one of the company’s recent achievements, Haloscent® Pure You, a fine fragrance innovation launched in 2024 that works with a person’s microbiome to extend how long perfume lasts on the skin. Most of the Haloscent® molecules are biodegradable, “proving that conscious perfumery and next-generation technology can go hand-in-hand,” she said.
Target #4: 100% of key natural perfume ingredients are responsibly sourced
The final sustainability pillar centers on responsible sourcing. “We have more than 500 natural ingredients that we leverage in perfumery, which creates a uniquely complex sustainability challenge,” said Benmayor.
To navigate this, dsm-firmenich examined the key emblematic natural ingredients used in making fragrance —such as rose, patchouli, vanilla, and jasmine — and identified which ones may be vulnerable to supply chain risk. These priority ingredients form the backbone of a responsible-sourcing action plan that spans the next five years and beyond.
“We’ve developed a comprehensive due-diligence roadmap to ensure that these raw materials are cultivated in ways that preserve biodiversity, protect soil health and local ecosystems, can support the communities who grow and harvest them, and offer transparency into their origins,” said Benmayor. Using insights from external partners such as EcoVadis (a platform that helps companies manage ESG risk and compliance and meet sustainability goals) and dsm-firmenich’s own third-party audited due diligence framework , the roadmap outlines which ingredients and supply chains will be reviewed each year, what certifications may be required, and how dsm-firmenich can collaborate with farmers and partners to raise standards. When challenges arise, the company will work directly with their clients, beauty industry stakeholders, NGOs and governments to build coalitions and deliver impactful and meaningful long-term solutions.
“Many of these natural ingredients are seasonal and involve short, intense harvest windows,” Benmayor explained. “We work closely with farmers and suppliers to create more stable, year-round income models rather than delivering single lump-sum payments that they have to stretch across the rest of the year.”
The company also invests in improving agricultural practices, from encouraging crop diversification to strengthening education around sustainable farming methods, as seen in their long-term initiatives with producers. “We regularly visit our suppliers to stay informed about what’s happening on the ground and ensure that best practices are being followed, from safe and fair working conditions to upholding our sustainability standards,” said Benmayor. “The goal is to build a supply chain where environmental integrity and social responsibility are embedded at every step,” she said.
It’s all part of dsm-firmenich’s overarching mission to change the way fragrances are created. “You can’t make a perfume sustainable after the fact,” said Benmayor. “It has to be the approach from inception. What we’re trying to do is remove the barriers that can make it complicated to create an eco-friendly scent, so that sustainability is easy to implement at every stage of development.” The company’s tools and programs are all designed to make conscious perfumery a seamless, built-in part of creation. As each new system is put into practice, “we discover new ways to be sustainable,” says Benmayor. “The work begets more ideas, to where sustainability is no longer a goal, but a continuous engine for progress.
