Company Profile
Solvay
Company Overview
Solvay offers a broad range of products that contribute to improving quality of life and its customers' performance in markets such as consumer goods, construction, automotive, energy, water and environment and electronics.
It is one of the world leaders in high-performance specialty polymers and the world leader in soda ash and hydrogen peroxide. It also provides its leadership in specialty chemicals (silica, rare earth formulations), products designed for large consumer markets (surfactants and natural polymers, acetate tow) and engineering plastics based on polyamide 6.6.
Company History
The story of the Solvay group began in 1861, when Ernest Solvay discovered the key to the «industrial manufacture of soda ash using sea salt, ammoniac and carbonic acid».
In 1863, Ernest Solvay patented a revolutionary ammonia-soda process for producing sodium carbonate which is still widely used today for glass, washing powder and flue gas cleaning.
The first soda factory started operating in Couillet, Belgium in 1865.
From 1870 to 1880, Solvay promoted the global expansion of the company. Factories were set up in Belgium, France, England, Germany, Russia and the United States.
Today, Solvay is an international industrial Group active in chemistry, with three sectors of activity: Chemicals and Plastics and Rhodia. The latter was acquired in September 2011.
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
“This year began with the launch of Solvay’s new corporate brand, which symbolizes the transformation of the Group and expresses our vision. It reflects the expertise and innovation that underline our ambition to be a reference in sustainable chemistry. This new visual identity is the banner behind which we all, I am certain, proudly stand,” says Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Chief Executive Officer of the Solvay group.
Ambitious, differentiating, innovative and dynamic, the Group's new logo is one of the most visible signs of its transformation.
Apart from creating the logo, the challenge was also to develop a new distinctive and inspiring tagline capable of capturing the very essence of the Group’s corporate vision. Our slogan – “Asking more from chemistry” – clearly expresses our pride in being a chemical company and suggests the different approaches used by Solvay to become a model for sustainable chemistry:
striving after continuous progress, implementing operational excellence, the absolute necessity to display social responsibility in the pursuit of our activities.
“The highly symbolic letter "S" and the use of the color blue for the new logo, maintains a clear link with the Group's history. The tagline reflects our commitment to challenge our own limits, to be better chemists, to constantly go the extra mile for our customers, to conduct ourselves in a way that respects nature and the environment, and to mobilize our people around a shared commitment,” says Michel Defourny, Head of Solvay’s Corporate Communications.