As a supplier to Apple of products manufactured entirely on renewable energy, Solvay advances its own sustainability ambitions through Apple’s Supplier Clean Energy Program.
Brussels, July 22, 2020
Today, Solvay announces its participation in Apple’s Supplier Clean Energy Program, a core component to Apple’s commitment yesterday to reach carbon neutrality for its entire supply chain and products by 2030. Apple’s 71 suppliers, including Solvay, have all committed globally to producing Apple products with 100 percent clean energy as part of this effort.
Solvay’s involvement dates back to October 2015, when Apple first initiated its Supplier Clean Energy Program, requesting its suppliers to make all necessary arrangements to power their Apple production with renewable power.
Solvay implemented a variety of renewable energy solutions in order to provide Apple with materials made with 100% green power, and with sufficient flexibility to be able to adapt to future demand.
“We were quick to accept Apple’s request because it integrated perfectly with our own objectives in terms of renewable energy,” explained Sébastien Pétillon, North America Sales Manager for Solvay’s Speciality Polymers unit. “Ultimately, the agreement enabled us to gain access to more renewable energy.”
Solvay decided to join Apple’s China Clean Energy Fund, an initiative gathering ten initial Apple suppliers in China in a several hundred million dollar fund to invest in renewables in China. “This was a much more interesting solution for us, offering greater investment capacities, the possibility to fund multiple projects simultaneously, and less financial risk,” explained Alain Michel, Solvay’s Head of Climate & Energy Transition.
On top of that, Solvay is currently planning the construction of a wind farm next to its Specialty Polymers’ site in Changshu, near Shanghai. “The Apple agreement accelerated our knowledge of the renewables market in China, increasing our expertise and know-how,” explains Alain, “which is exactly the effect they wanted it to have.”
About Solvay
Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of €10.2 billion in 2019. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels (SOLB) and Paris and in the United States,
where its shares (SOLVY) are traded through a Level I ADR program. Learn more at www.solvay.com.
