IFF Is Fragrance Industry’s First Zero-Waste-To-Landfill Facility

New Jersey operation is the first of its kind to earn GreenCircle Certified LLC, Zero Waste to Landfill facility status.

International Flavors & Fragrances’ South Brunswick, NJ facility has earned GreenCircle Certified LLC Zero Waste to Landfill facility status, making it the only facility of its kind in the flavor and fragrance industry to achieve GreenCircle’s zero waste status.

zero waste
International Flavors & Fragrances’ facility achieved Zero-Waste-To-Landfill Certification from GreenCircle, setting a new standard for the industry. (Photo: IFF)

The goal of the zero waste to landfill program is to spark innovative solutions for waste diversion. The certification affirms that IFF’s facility does not send any waste—directly or indirectly—to the local landfill and instead diverts waste by using the 4Rs: reducing, reusing, recycling, and recovering (energy from waste). So far, IFF has diverted 540 metric tons of waste from the facility, including office supplies, unrecyclable packaging materials, and containers that would have otherwise been headed to the landfill.

“The key to diverting waste and achieving Zero Waste to Landfill is to treat waste as a commodity,” said Paul Edworthy, Environmental Facilities Service Engineer at IFF, who leads the company’s Zero-Waste-To-Landfill initiative. “This is essential because improperly recycled or contaminated materials will end up in a landfill, even if they are sent to a recycling facility.”

Through IFF’s established focus on circular economy, leadership in organizations such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, commitment to the Paris Climate Accord, and alignment with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sustainability is integral to how IFF does business.

“Eliminating the concept of waste is one of the core principles of the circular economy and one of IFF’s positive principles,” said Andreas Fibig, Chairman and CEO of IFF. “Sustainability is a key enabler of our Vision2020 business strategy. This achievement is the embodiment of the UN’s 12th sustainability development goals to substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse by 2030. It also recognizes how IFF is increasing efficiency and innovatively cutting costs while creating a positive impact on society and the environment through sustainability.”