With the promotion of the "double carbon" goal and the tightening of environmental protection laws and regulations, the disadvantages of traditional deodorization methods are increasingly prominent - the secondary pollution of chemical deodorants and the essence masking method do not cure the symptoms and root causes, making odor control a "chronic problem" in municipal, aquaculture, chemical and other fields. In this context, environmentally friendly plant deodorizers with natural plant extracts as the core are rapidly emerging as the mainstream choice in the deodorizing market due to their unique advantages of "source decomposition, non-toxic and harmless, and environmentally friendly". According to data from 2025, the global market size of environmentally friendly plant deodorizers has exceeded 8 billion US dollars, and the growth rate of the Chinese market has reached 28%, far exceeding the industry average of 12% for traditional deodorizing products. A deodorizing revolution from "passive masking" to "active decomposition" is unfolding.

1、 Technological breakthrough: principle innovation from "masking odors" to "degrading odor molecules"

The core competitiveness of environmentally friendly plant deodorizers lies in their fundamentally different mechanism of action from traditional products - abandoning the surface effort of "covering odor with fragrance" and achieving a fundamental breakthrough from "eliminating odor" to "degrading the root cause" through chemical reactions between bioactive ingredients and odor molecules.

The technical principle can be summarized as the "triple action mechanism": firstly, molecular capture. The active ingredients such as terpenes and flavonoids in plant extracts can quickly bind with odor molecules such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and formaldehyde through van der Waals forces, forming stable complexes and preventing odor molecules from evaporating; Next is chemical decomposition, where some active ingredients (such as plant polyphenols and organic acids) can disrupt the chemical structure of odor molecules - for example, oxidizing hydrogen sulfide to harmless sulfates, converting ammonia to stable ammonium salts, and eliminating odor sources at the molecular level; Finally, there is microbial regulation. Specific plant extracts (such as peppermint and mugwort essential oils) can inhibit the proliferation of odor producing microorganisms (such as Escherichia coli and spoilage bacteria) in the environment, reduce the continuous generation of odor molecules, and achieve a "symptomatic and fundamental" treatment effect.

Compared with traditional products, the advantages of this technological path are very significant: although chemical deodorizers are effective quickly, the chlorine agents and phenolic substances contained in them can easily cause soil compaction and eutrophication of water bodies. In 2024, a chemical industrial park caused a 30% reduction in production of surrounding farmland due to the abuse of chemical deodorizers; The essence masking method can only temporarily confuse the sense of smell, and the high concentration of essence itself may cause respiratory discomfort; The acute oral toxicity test results of environmentally friendly plant deodorizers show that their LD50 (median lethal dose) is all greater than 5000mg/kg, which belongs to the actual non-toxic level, with a degradation rate of over 98%. After being used in municipal sewage plants, landfills and other scenarios, the compliance rate of surrounding air quality has increased by 40% -60%, completely solving the industry pain point of "deodorization and pollution control".

2、 Scenario implementation: full field penetration from municipal governance to industrial production

With its safe, efficient, and broad-spectrum characteristics, environmentally friendly plant deodorizers have gradually expanded from the initial municipal field to diverse scenarios such as aquaculture, chemical industry, and food processing, becoming a "customized solution" for odor control in different industries.

The municipal sector is the "main battlefield" for plant deodorizers. In a landfill, the traditional method of spraying chemical agents requires 3-4 times a day, which is still difficult to control the spread of odors in summer. However, plant deodorizers can reduce the concentration of odors by more than 85% through a combination of "atomization spraying+leachate addition". After the introduction of this technology in a landfill in Beijing in 2025, the number of complaints from surrounding residents has dropped from more than 20 per month to 1-2, and the ammonia nitrogen content in leachate has decreased by 32%, reducing treatment costs by 25%. In municipal sewage treatment plants, plant deodorizers are added to key nodes such as aeration tanks and sludge dewatering workshops to suppress the release of gases such as hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan. After being used in a sewage treatment plant in Shanghai, the odor concentration at the plant boundary stabilized and reached the first level standard of the "Emission Standards for Odor Pollutants" (GB14554-93). The proportion of respiratory discomfort in employee occupational health examinations decreased by 50%.

The application in the field of agricultural breeding has solved the contradiction between "environmental protection and efficiency". The emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide from large-scale breeding farms not only pollute the environment, but also lead to a decrease in the immune system and slow growth of livestock and poultry. In traditional deodorization methods, the cost of laying adsorbents is high and replacement is frequent, while plant deodorizers achieve "in vivo odor reduction+in vitro odor control" through a dual mode of "drinking water addition+environmental spraying". After adopting this plan in 2025, the ammonia concentration in a pig farm in Shandong Province decreased from 50ppm to below 15ppm, the survival rate of piglets increased by 8%, and the COD (chemical oxygen demand) of breeding wastewater decreased by 28%, meeting the water quality standards for farmland irrigation and achieving a virtuous cycle of "zero pollution in breeding and wastewater reuse".

The customized demand in the industrial and food fields drives product technology upgrades. In response to organic waste gases (such as benzene and aldehydes) in chemical industrial parks, the company has developed a composite deodorizer called "plant extract+nano photocatalyst". Through the synergistic effect of catalytic oxidation and molecular decomposition, the deodorizing efficiency has been improved to 92%. After being used by a petrochemical enterprise, the emission concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at the factory boundary meets the requirements of the "Emission Standards for Pollutants in Petrochemical Industry" (GB31571-2015); In the food processing industry, a biodegradable food grade deodorizer has been introduced to address the issue of fishy odor in slaughterhouses and seafood processing plants. It has been tested and found to comply with the General Safety Requirements for Food Contact Materials and Products (GB4806.1-2016), eliminating odors while avoiding any impact on food safety production.

3、 Market Trends: New Opportunities for Growth Driven by Policy and Technological Innovation

The rapid development of environmentally friendly plant deodorizers cannot be separated from the multiple driving forces of policy dividends, technological innovation, and changes in consumer attitudes. In the future, the market will present three major trends of "product high-end, application scenario oriented, and service integrated".

The mandatory constraints of policies and regulations have become a catalyst for market growth. In January 2025, the "Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Odor Pollution (2025-2030)" was officially implemented, which clearly requires that "by 2027, the compliance rate of odor pollution emissions in key industries should reach over 95%, and the use of high pollution and high-risk chemical deodorizers should be prohibited". This policy directly promotes the accelerated elimination of traditional products in industries such as municipal, chemical, and aquaculture, and shifts towards environmentally friendly plant deodorizers. At the same time, local governments have also introduced subsidy policies - Guangdong Province provides a 15% subsidy for equipment investment to enterprises using environmentally friendly deodorization technology, while Zhejiang Province has included plant deodorizers in the "Environmental Green Technology Promotion Catalogue" to promote rapid market demand.

Technological innovation drives products to upgrade towards "efficiency and functionality". Currently, the industry is moving from a single "deodorization" function to a multifunctional direction of "deodorization+antibacterial+purification". For example, the "botanical compound deodorant" developed by an enterprise can inhibit COVID-19, Escherichia coli and other microorganisms while eliminating odor, with a virus inactivation rate of 99.9%, which has been promoted and applied in hospital sewage stations, public toilets and other scenes; Some companies have introduced slow-release technology into their products, encapsulating plant active ingredients in microcapsules to extend the deodorizing effect from 4 hours to 72 hours, significantly reducing the frequency and cost of use. In addition, the screening and extraction technology of natural plant materials is also breaking through, expanding from traditional mint and mugwort to new materials such as tea polyphenols and citrus peel extracts, which not only improve deodorization efficiency but also reduce dependence on scarce plant resources.

The integrated solution of "product+service" has become the core of enterprise competition. With the increasing complexity of application scenarios, simple product sales are no longer sufficient to meet demand. Enterprises are beginning to provide a full chain service of "customized solution design+equipment installation+operation and maintenance services". For example, in response to the complex working conditions of waste incineration plants, enterprises will first conduct on-site inspections, analyze odor components and concentrations, and then design a combination system of "negative pressure collection+atomization spray+activated carbon adsorption", equipped with remote monitoring equipment, and adjust the dosage of deodorizer in real time; In the aquaculture industry, we provide long-term services of "deodorization scheme design+employee training+regular testing" to ensure the continuous and stable deodorization effect. This "technology+service" model not only enhances customer stickiness, but also promotes the industry's transformation from "product sales" to "environmental services", significantly increasing market added value.

4、 Challenge and Prospect: The Leap from "Substitute" to "Leader"

Despite the broad market prospects, environmentally friendly plant deodorizers still face three major challenges: firstly, the high cost of raw materials, with natural plant extracts priced 2-3 times higher than chemical deodorizers, which some small and medium-sized enterprises find difficult to afford; Secondly, there is a lack of industry standards. Currently, there is no unified quality standard for plant deodorizers, and there is a phenomenon in the market of passing off inferior products as good and false advertising; Thirdly, there is a lack of technological awareness, and some companies still have doubts about the "plant deodorizing effect" and tend to choose traditional products with lower prices.

Looking ahead to the future, the key to breakthroughs in the industry lies in "reducing costs, improving quality, and expanding awareness": reducing product costs through large-scale planting of plant raw materials, optimizing extraction processes; Promote industry associations to establish unified quality standards and testing methods, and regulate market order; Strengthen industry university research cooperation, enhance enterprises' understanding of plant deodorization technology through case demonstrations, technical training, and other methods. It is expected that by 2030, the market size of environmentally friendly plant deodorizers in China will exceed 30 billion yuan, and the proportion of the overall deodorizing market will increase from 35% in 2025 to 60%, becoming the absolute mainstream of odor control.

From the fresh air of municipal sewage treatment plants to the green circulation of livestock farms, environmentally friendly plant deodorizers are rewriting the development logic of the deodorization industry with the characteristic of "originating from nature and returning to nature". In this green revolution, enterprises that combine technological strength and environmental protection concepts will eventually grow from "substitutes for traditional products" to "industry standard setters", providing a "Chinese solution" for global odor pollution prevention and control.