It is almost two years since Belgian speciality chemicals maker Syensqo came into being after the split of Belgian chemical company Solvay into two independent companies. Editor Tim Probert visits Lyon in France, where it recently inaugurated a cutting-edge microbiology laboratory to find out more about the company’s past, present and future
The history of Syensqo is complex. It can be traced all the way back to 1863, when Belgian industrial chemist Ernest Solvay invented a new process to produce sodium carbonate, also known as soda ash, for use in the manufacture of glass, paper, soap and detergents.
Solvay established his first factory near Charleroi, Belgium in 1863, and further perfected the process until 1872, when he patented it. Soon, further Solvay process plants were established in the US, the UK, Russia, Ukraine, Germany and Austria.
Before the First World War, Solvay was the largest multinational company in the world. Ernest Solvay used his considerable wealth for philanthropic purposes, including founding the Institut des Sciences Sociales at the Free University of Brussels, the International Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, and the Solvay Business School.
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