You have been at Evonik for over 20 years now. What has changed in the company’s perception of sustainability since?
Evonik has been focused on sustainability from the very beginning, seeing it as an innate part of efficiency and making sure we use the full span of material. Over time, the number of companies and regions going through transformational changes has increased knowing where to place your resources or how to use them in a circular system has become far more complex than optimizing within a very linear economy or within existing feedstocks.
Evonik's history goes back to the 1840's. Presently, we are one of the world's leading specialty chemical companies. Evoink supplies to 100 different countries around the world, having over 32,000 employees. Our current portfolio contains Smart Materials, such as lightweight thermodynamic engineered plastic types of polymers; but equally materials like hydrogen peroxide or silica, which play a central role in the hydrogen economy or in battery technologies, thus supporting the green transition. Besides these, we have a Nutrition & Care division, focused on producing more efficient feed for animals and near-to-nature ingredients for beauty. This branch is complemented by the Healthcare business that is centered on sustainable healthy living. Finally, through the Specialty Additives branch we supply additives that make various industries more durable, lighter, and more efficient. A vivid example in this sense would be formulating a paint that prevents ships from rusting and getting bioaccumulations that lead to drag.
What are smart materials and why are they important for the green transition?
Materials are products that are not yet in an end design. Our Smart Materials portfolio is divided between inorganic materials (silica and hydrogen peroxide) and organic materials (high performance polymers). Currently, we are more heavily oriented towards inorganic materials with our catalyst, silica and hydrogen peroxide businesses. Our resources are focused on mobility applications, especially in tire formulations. For instance, silane silica helps tires become less abrasive, hence leading to fuel efficiency. This solution is especially useful in Europe where retreading is not as popular as in the U.S., and there are more stringent tire durability requirements. Another example is the high performance polyamide materials used for bus bars that can help handle the connectivity of electricity within EVs, which have different requirements due to battery temperature and other specific engineering aspects. In addition, we have specialty oxide applications, where we sit at the separator and in the anode of an actual battery to help with longevity and the ability to hold the charge longer.
In addition, we are increasingly using renewable energy for running our assets globally. By using biomass, we get to be more bio-circular and thus, offset our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
Overall, the footprint of our business refers to whether or not the base material is founded on reduced renewable energy, while the handprint refers to how the material performs in a certain application. We address both our footprint and handprint in improving our sustainability.
We know that sustainability means not just turning green but also making green affordable for everyone. Are smart materials an affordable alternative to traditional materials?
The first time a smart material product is on the market as first-generation technology it takes a while for our technologies to optimize. However, in several applications we have seen that using a more sustainable material can also be more economical, even right from the start. Overall affordability would depend on the system and the application, but we can see many economical solutions already on the market. Nevertheless, for them to become mainstream, the customers have to be willing to make the change and adopt them in their lifestyles.
Evonik received the American Chemistry Council's Sustainability Leadership award for RHEANCE. What was the context of this achievement?
RHEANCE is a biotechnology solution, which can be used in dishwashing applications as well as for personal cleaning. We have now officially launched and commercialized this solution, and we have several partners that are interested in replacing their fossil fuel-based cleaning materials with our alternative. The biodegradable surfactant used in the product goes back down the water drain in a completely circular manner, which is what got us the ACC distinction.
How do you handle your energy needs presently, considering the disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine?
In Europe, Evonik has natural gas supplies as well as a legacy coal business, for which we were given an exemption to keep in use over the last year. Besides these, we use hydropower on several sites, and we consider using integrated heat solutions where we can link up with biomass or other waste handlers that have extra energy. Managing the last critical year from a volume perspective was feasible, but the fluctuation or prices and the adjacent uncertainty were the difficult part.
How do you envision the future of the chemistry industry in the context of the green transition?
The transformation that is now happening across various industries could not be possible without chemistry. Given that the investments in our field are long-lasting and impactful, we sincerely expect to see support coming from the legislative side, both in terms of capital and solid guidelines. Having the public's vote on the assortment of products they expect to see in the market is a vital part of our future development because we are interested to cater directly to people’s specific needs. The chemistry industry sits at the convergence of the regulatory side and the consumption side, and the goal is to deliver the solutions that satisfy both parties.
