Solvay is on a perpetual quest for excellence. Just because we’ve mastered a breakthrough process, doesn’t mean we stop there. We keep looking for new ways to invent, improve, and reinvent, ensuring the products we offer are as high-quality and as sustainable as possible.
Process technology is the core value creator for Solvay and process innovation is crucial to our future performance. We are pioneering process innovation, investing to make our operations safer and more reliable, and reducing our carbon footprint, while providing our customers with cleaner and more cost-competitive products.
In 1863, Ernest Solvay, the founder of Solvay, invented a radically new process for the production of soda ash. This technological breakthrough was so successful that by 1900, it was used to produce 95% of the soda ash consumed worldwide.
Process innovation sparked change across industries, inspiring scientists and entrepreneurs around the world. Today it's used to produce soda ash and sodium bicarbonate for applications in a wide range of sectors - from glass, detergents, and food additives to rechargeable batteries, flue gas treatment, and insulation foam for buildings.
Fast forward to today and you’ll find that Ernest Solvay’s pioneering spirit lives on in our company and within our diverse global team.
New circular silica for tires
Solvay's new bio-circular silica process, derived from rice husk ash, will help tire manufacturers meet sustainability goals by reducing the industry's carbon footprint and increasing renewable material use. This process cuts CO2 emissions by 35% per metric ton of precipitated silica through a less-energy-intensive method, while maintaining performance.
e.Solvay breakthrough technology
Our e.Solvay process is the future of the industry. With this new process, powered by renewable energy, we will reduce CO2 emissions by 50% to produce soda ash. It also cuts water and salt consumption by 20% and limestone usage by 30%. We are in the industrial piloting phase for this technology, at our Dombasle Plant in France.
Essential to the everyday
Solvay’s products are quietly powerful. Invisible yet vital, they’re at the heart of everyday life, harnessing the power of chemistry to address the world’s most pressing needs in an innovative and sustainable way. Impacting businesses and individuals in areas including agriculture, feed and food, automotive, building and construction, consumer goods and healthcare, electronics, resources, environment, energy and industrial applications, our solutions help preserve our food, purify our water, produce sustainable clothing, and maintain the cleanliness of our homes.
These essential products help drive sustainability, business viability and most importantly, progress for our planet and its people. We’re perfecting the processes for chemicals like soda ash, peroxides, and silica whose uses include batteries and the automotive industry.
Inventing and reinventing
As a world-leading company, we are committed to society, investing in process innovation and supporting the energy transition to help us minimize our carbon footprint. Our objectives incorporate social and sustainability initiatives focused on the health and wellbeing of our employees, our communities, and our planet.
It’s our aim to deliver carbon neutrality through investments in energy. Since our founding, we have been advancing the market, enabling us to become an industry leader and to drive progress. It’s what we have done since 1863 and it’s what we will continue to do - use the power of chemistry to shape a more sustainable future.
Sustainability
For more on our commitments to people and planet, explore our Sustainability pillars: Planet Progress and Better Life.
