34 JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE
Now that the importance of fragrance to daily life has been established the question
becomes how fragrances can be produced in more sustainable ways. There is no definition
of what constitutes a sustainable fragrance. Most discussions on sustainability take the 17
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Fig. 2) from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, adopted in 2015 [13] as a reference point these goals succeeded the 8 UN
Millenium Development Goals, set in 2000 to be met by 2015. The aim of UN SDGs is to
promote “peace and prosperity for people and the planet…”.
In Europe, as part of the EU Green Deal, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
(CSRD) entered into force in January 2023 -(EU) 2023/2772 -and there is a clear connection
between the Environmental and Social aspects of CSRD and the SDG goals.
Another important development in Europe as part of the Green Deal was the European
Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS), which was announced in 2020, with a
Restrictions Roadmap published in 2022. This Roadmap prioritizes group restrictions for
the most harmful substances to human health and the environment. The CSS is part of the
EU’s zero pollution ambition, and has or will lead to revisions of Classification, Labelling
and Packaging Regulation (CLP), the Detergents and Surfactants Regulation ((EU)
2023/0124 (COD)), the Cosmetics Products Regulation (CPR), REACH and the Ambient
Air Quality Directive (AAQD). CSS also introduced the notion of essential use, where the
most harmful substances must be replaced unless there is essential use (“Guiding criteria
and principles for the essential use concept in EU legislation dealing with chemicals” -
Document C/2024/2894).
Further pieces of related legislation in Europe are:
– Restriction on synthetic polymer microparticles (microplastics) – (EU) 2023/2055.
– European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) – (EU) 2023/1115.
– Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) – (EU) 2024/1760.
– Forced Labour Regulation – (EU) 2024/3015.
Figure 2. 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

35 Sustainable Fragrances
Whilst Europe is often seen as the leading the regulatory agenda in this area it is not alone,
and similar concerns and legislation either has or is being considered for other regions, for
example the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3371-3378) and California Proposition 65 (CA Prop
65 -Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act) in the USA.
In this article, seven major axes that are considered highly relevant to ensuring sustainable
fragrance development for the future will be reviewed, and the approximate linkage
between the SDGs, CSRD standards and other EU legislation is as follows:
• Carbon footprint – SDG 13 – ESRS E1 (Fig 3).
• Water footprint – SDG 6 – ESRS E3.
• Air pollution – SDG 12 – ESRS E2 – AAQD.
• Deforestation and Biodiversity – SDG 15 – ESRS E4 and EUDR, CSDDD.
• Human Safety – SDG 3 – ESRS S1 and S4 – CLP.
• Environmental Safety – SDG 6, 15 – ESRS E2 – CLP, Microplastics.
• Human Ethical considerations – SDG 1-5 – ESRS G1 S3 and CSDDD, Forced Labour
Regulation.
There is some overlap between the seven axes, so a judgement had been made as to where
to place certain topics.
For EU based companies concerned by CSRD an annual audited report is required, and
this will serve as a broad overall reporting mechanism for each company’s sustainability
activities in a uniform fashion. This may overcome some criticism of the current practice
of many companies issuing annual Sustainability Reports which are difficult to compare.
CARBON FOOTPRINT
Fragrances are composed of a blend of fossil-based, plant-based and natural raw materials,
with fossil being the largest element industry wide. An article on the carbon footprint of
fragrances was published previously by Warr et al [14], and later a more specific example
by Martz et al [15]. Many companies in the fragrance value chain have public targets
Figure 3. EU CSRD European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) – source EFRAG.