Sustainability

Smart Effects: From Elements to Excellence – Partnering in Your Sustainability Journey

At Evonik Smart Effects business line, sustainability is more than a goal – it’s at the core of everything we do. On this page, you’ll discover how we combine our strengths and expertise in silane and silica technologies to deliver future-ready solutions to our sustainability goals – and achieve them by reducing the footprint of our processes and enhancing the handprint of our products.

Collaboration is the key to successful transformation

We see this as an ongoing journey, a continuous transformation across the entire value chain. We walk this path together with our suppliers, customers, and partners. By understanding the unique challenges of different markets, we develop tailored solutions for a wide range of applications and value chains. Our precipitated and fumed silica, metal oxides, and specialty silanes are designed to meet specific sustainability needs. Whether it’s reducing CO₂ emissions, implementing circular solutions, conserving resources, or protecting the environment - our products and solutions help customers optimize their value chains and benefit from smart effects.

Susanne Pellengahr

Global Director Sustainability

Spoken languages: german, english

+49 174 9914329 Send email

Sustainability Strategy

Frequently Asked Questions

Sustainable Impacts

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Sustainability Impact

Sustainability is at the core of all our activities. We are dedicated to improving the sustainability of the entire value chain and strive for creating a more sustainable future for all

Emmanuel Auer

Head of Evonik Smart Effects Business Line

DRIVING OUR OWN TRANSFORMATION

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Our commitment to sustainability

Reduce emissions

In line with our company-wide commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), we have set climate goals for our Smart Effects Business Line. Compared to 2021, we aim to reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by at least 25% and our Scope 3 emissions by 11% by 2030.

Use circular materials

We regard the circular economy as a fundamental transformation of economic activity. Our goal is to establish circular raw materials, including certification. Additionally, we aim for reducing the volume of specific production waste relative to production volume by 10%.

Protect water systems

Evonik has set a voluntary corporate target to reduce specific freshwater withdrawal by 3 percent relative to production volume between 2021 and 2030. The Smart Effects Business Line fully supports this goal. For production sites in water-stressed regions, we develop site-specific action plans to further minimize our water footprint.

We implement effective measures along our value chain

As part of Evonik's Next Generation technology development, our roadmap outlines sustainability targets for 2030. To achieve these goals, we leverage a range of initiatives, many developed in collaboration with our suppliers in line with our customer’s targets. Our key priorities include reducing CO₂ emissions through measures like adopting low-carbon energy at our sites and advancing the circular economy by repurposing industrial waste streams. We also focus on preserving biodiversity, conserving water, reducing waste, and promoting social responsibility. Updates on our activities and progress will be shared regularly on this website.

Beyond today

Transformation is a journey that demands commitment and perseverance. We embrace our responsibility for the impact of our activities on the environment and society and take decisive steps to address these challenges. For example, we have been conducting life cycle assessments (LCAs) for over a decade to transparently evaluate the environmental impact of our products throughout their lifecycle. Building on this foundation, our Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) provide customers and stakeholders with transparent and third-party verified environmental data. These insights enable us to identify key levers for driving transformation.

Evonik's Sustainability Report

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have further questions about the sustainability goals of Evonik Smart Effects or regarding the handprint and footprint of our products? Here you will find answers.

Link to FAQs

BL OA VISIOMER specialty methacrylates FAQ

SUSTAINABILITY ENABLERS IN MANY MARKETS

The handprint of our product portfolio

The products and solutions of our Smart Effect business line are used in a wide range of value chains. Versatile smart effects increase sustainability criteria in many applications – all along the value chain, from our customers' production processes to consumer products. Our fumed oxides, silica and silanes enhance production efficiency, help save resources and reduce CO₂ emissions, and they extend the service life of components and products by improving quality and durability. Our products can even contribute to the protection of eco-systems and to healthy living. More details and concrete examples from practical applications can be found below.

Driving change together

We believe that alliances by partnerships and collaborations along the value chain are strong levers for solving the pressing global challenges. We do not only offer products whose handprint has been proven to improve sustainability in many applications. Instead, we work closely with our customers to develop individual solutions, for example to reduce the carbon footprint of their processes and products and to establish circularity.

Circular economy is essential for saving resources. Evonik Smart Effects pursues various approaches. One is renewable or recycled raw materials within our ULTRASIL® rubber silica portfolio for the tire industry.

We prolong the circularity of raw materials: Our pioneering Tetraethoxysilan recycling program regains and reprocesses TEOS byproducts from electronics customers.

Recovering of silica from discarded circuit boards saves up to 71% CO₂ compared to producing new silica.

TEOS Recycling

Road traffic accounts for a high percentage of global CO₂emissions. The Silica/Silane filler system for tires lowers fuel consumption of passenger cars by up to 8%. Moreover: Evonik’s pioneering Silica/Silane formulation for “Green Truck Tires” enhances rolling resistance by up to 20%, resulting in fuel savings and less CO₂emissions in road transportation.

Even our HYDREX® silica for paper contributes to low carbon logistics by weight reduction in white packing board.

A long product lifespan saves resources. Our chemicals provide durability, thermal and mechanical stability, or surface protection. For example, AEROXIDE® fumed metal oxides used as protective cathode coating extends the service life of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles by about 50%. Our Silica/Silane System reduces rolling resistance and improves wet grip in manyfold tire applications, all while minimizing abrasion and delivering highest road performance, and safety. Whereas Protectosil® anti-corrosion agents preserve concrete buildings for up to 100 years.

Small quantities of silica in personal care products make a major contribution to health. In toothpaste, silica serves a nature-identical abrasive for cleaning teeth from food particles and bacteria. Moreover: Silica increases the efficacy of active ingredients such as fluoride for caries prevention. In sun care products, silica acts as a SPF-booster by stabilizing the UV-filter in sunscreen formulations, protecting skin from UV-radiation.

Production efficiency saves energy and resources, time and costs. Silica as a defoaming agent and anticaking aid helps avoid machine downtimes. In food and feed production, for example, it prevents clogging of powdered ingredients. This enhances efficiency along the whole value chain and reduces food loss. In semiconductor and microchip production, high-purity silanes and silica ensure ultra-precise and efficient processing – a fundamental requirement for the core technology of modern life.

Nature-identical substances such as synthetic amorphous silica contribute to cosmetics and home care formulations without microplastics. Evonik’s silica simply joins the natural cycle of silica, and it is not harmful to aquatic environments or wastewater plants. Silica also supports sustainable farming. It reduces nitrate/phosphate pollution by increasing efficacy and enabling the sparing use of plant protection products.

Synthetic amorphous silica (SAS) is globally used as a safe food additive. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has once again confirmed that silica is safe to use in food, including infant and baby food. As an anticaking aid, silica reduces food loss during production and ensures convenient handling of spices or milk powder. As a nature-identical substance, silica is also safe to use as an abrasive and thickener in toothpaste.

Safe food ingredient

7 Smart ways sustainability becomes real

Discover our sustainability impact

Personal Care

AEROSIL®, SIPERNAT® and SPHERILEX® offer personal care manufacturers a selection of multifunctional additives with high compatibility for formulating waterless products, which have the potential to minimize packaging.

Cosmetics

SIPERNAT® PC and SPHERILEX® PC silica are naturally derived mineral ingredients according to ISO 16128. They can help formulate personal care products without microplastics.

Tires

Evonik’s Silica/Silane reinforcing filler system enhances performance, durability and safety of tires: It improves wet grip and at the same lowers rolling resistance, which can reduce fuel consumption by 8% and extend the range of electric vehicles by 8%.

Thermal Insulation

Refrigerators equipped with vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) containing AEROSIL® fumed silica can achieve up to ten times better insulation values than conventional thermal insulation materials of the same thickness.

Agriculture

Using AEROSIL®, SIPERNAT®, and ZEOFREE® increases the efficacy of plant protection products. Silica offers solutions to reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed, which in turn saves CO₂ from fertilizer production and helps to reduce nitrate/phosphate pollution.

Food

Silica from Evonik helps reduce food loss, as customer experiences prove.

Home Care

AEROSIL®, SIPERNAT®, SPHERILEX® and ZEOFREE® are nature-identical ingredients according to ISO 16128-2. Used as abrasives, anti-caking and free flow agents, thickeners, or carriers, they offer an alternative to polymers in laundry formulations.

Lithium-Ion Batteries

Dry coating of cathode active materials with AEROXIDE® alumina can increase the service life of a Li-ion battery by around 50%. Used as ultra-thin ceramic separator coating, AEROXIDE® improves thermal stability and contributes to battery safety.

Graffiti Control

Protectosil ECO-TRETE® ANTIGRAFFITI reliably protects surfaces from graffiti vandalism – with no added PFAS*. The ready-to-use product makes graffiti easy to remove and provides effective protection even after several cleaning cycles.

Paper

HYDREX® P used as extension for titanium dioxide can help reduce CO₂ emissions per metric ton of paper.

Semiconductors

Closing the loop – a sustainable partnership for circular production of TEOS.