Suppliers

Listen to Lynn De Proft Chief Procurement Officer

Click here to meet Lynn and find out how we can build sustainable shared value together. 

Sourcing with a global reach

Every year, hundreds of highly skilled professionals source goods and services for Solvay in 64 countries. Our total annual spend with external suppliers amounts roughly to €6.5 billion worldwide - including raw materials, services, energy, equipment, spare parts, and packaging. 

We’re an inclusive company; partners of all sizes or geographies are invited to build long-term relationships with us. We see the regionalization of procurement as a fantastic opportunity to have a wider impact, map out new options and develop new ideas.

Partnering with our suppliers 

We are purpose-led and we believe that companies who are not serious about sustainable development will disappear. Solvay One Planet, our holistic sustainability approach, is organized around three pillars: fighting Climate change, using Resources more efficiently, and contributing to a Better Life for employees and global citizens. We consider our suppliers to be an extension of our workforce; hence we want them to help us turn our ambition into reality. By partnering with our suppliers, we can make a bigger difference. For instance, we can work on curbing the 17% of our scope 3^* CO2 emissions that are generated by our supply chain; we can create more circularity because as chemists, we know how to combine and recombine elements; also, we can push through social progress for all of our employees, everywhere.

Solvay Supplier Days

Our sustainability ambition is at the heart of the Solvay Supplier Days Program, which was launched on April 22, 2021, with more than 250 executives from more than 130 companies registered. Our goal is to achieve common sustainability ambitions with our suppliers and create shared value for all.

What’s next? Solvay Working Days (a series of thematic virtual workshops)  will be held from June 21-25. We will exchange over key sustainability topics such as enabling circular solutions and reducing our carbon footprint.

Together for Sustainability

Solvay is a founding member of Together for Sustainability (TfS), a global, procurement-driven initiative to assess and improve the sustainability performance of chemical companies and their suppliers. The key principle is: “an audit for one is an audit for all”. Sharing supplier evaluations among 29 global chemical companies prevents the duplication of efforts and delivers de facto sustainability standards for the entire chemical supply chain. 

TfS sustainability performance assessments are carried out by the initiative’s key partner and specialized service provider EcoVadis. 

Lynn De Proft sits on the Board of TfS and Solvay plays its full part: more than 1,700 of our suppliers have been assessed so far and the target is to reach 2,000 by the end of this year, which places our company among the top 4 contributors to the initiative. Together, we can be in the driver’s seat for the sustainable progress of the chemical industry.

Supplier code of Business Integrity

Before entering into a business relationship, we expect our suppliers to commit to all principles of our Supplier Code of Business Integrity. The document is part of our sourcing process and purchasing contracts. It is non-negotiable and includes fundamental conditions relating to compliance, Human Rights, employee working conditions and sustainability. 
Our Supplier Code of Business Integrity is fully aligned to our Corporate social responsibility (CSR) agreements with the IndustriALL Global Union and inspired by the UN Global Compact principles as well as Responsible Care® practices.

Useful documents