SOLVAY CELEBRATES BREAKTHROUGH PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR ITS SUSTAINABLE AND PROFITABLE GROWTH IN ITS INNOVATION TROPHY 2009

(ITnews) - (Hugin) - December 15th, 2009 (For immediate release) SOLVAY CELEBRATES BREAKTHROUGH PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR ITS SUSTAINABLE AND PROFITABLE GROWTH IN ITS INNOVATION TROPHY 2009 Solvay Group distinguished ten innovations during the Solvay Innovation Trophy ceremony yesterday at Solvay's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The international Jury, which includes prominent members of the international research and innovation community, assessed the merits of 100 competing innovation projects, selected from more than 400 candidates. This event was celebrated internationally via a global videoconference on various Solvay sites in all regions of the world. The details about the competing projects and the selection can be found here. "This record participation at Solvay's Innovation Trophy shows innovation is part of the genes of Solvay Group," said Jacques van Rijckevorsel, Group Innovation Sponsor and Group General Manager of the Plastics Sector and Member of the Executive Committee. "The laureates' projects illustrate the drive in Solvay's development very well: delivering breakthrough innovations, products and technologies to power our sustainable and profitable growth coupled with social and environmental responsibility," he adds. The laureates of the Solvay Innovation Trophy 2009 are: - A new SOLEF® PVDF for lithium ion batteries in the New Business category: The new grades of PVDF significantly improve energy density and performance and increase duration of lithium ion batteries. By increasing energy density and driving down the costs of the batteries, the new SOLEF® grades support the use of these batteries in new applications, such as hybrid and electric cars. - Tigris, the world's lightest airline catering trolley in Radel® in the Customer Oriented Projects category: Lightweight, durable and totally recyclable, the airline industry's first catering trolley with a virtually all-plastic design, made of Radel® polyphenylsulfone, boasts at least a 25% weight reduction over conventional aluminium trolleys, thus affording airlines a significant payload reduction and major fuel savings. - Palladium catalyst for H2O2 production in the Performance Improvement category: A new patented catalyst for hydrogen peroxide production uses raw materials that are easily available and cheaper, simplifies the production process, with fewer synthesis stages, less power consumption and less waste generation than the conventional process. - Solvay Ethics Film Festival in the Management Improvement category: This premier pilot edition, which has just ended in North America, is a unique and engaging way to motivate and inspire employees to promote ethics and compliance within Solvay. - S-300 expansion in Green River, Wyoming, U.S. and Selective catalytic NOx reduction for diesel engines in the Sustainable Development and Citizenship category: Given the commitment to Sustainable Development of the Solvay Group, two projects were distinguished in this category. -- The S-300 expansion aims at the growing market for bicarbonate for flue gas cleaning in power stations in the U.S. by producing bicarbonate out of the processing effluent of trona, therefore turning waste into a useful and powerful product for environmental protection. -- Dinox® technology of Selective Catalytic Reduction developed by Inergy Automotive Systems involves injecting an aqueous solution of AdBlue® into the exhaust system of diesel engines to eliminate nitrogen oxides, which are harmful to human health and the environment. - The high-tech world of organic electronics in the Replicated innovations category: In collaboration with highly regarded partners such as Plextronics, IMEC, Materia Nova, Georgia Tech and other prestigious universities, Solvay was quickly positioned as a credible partner for companies developing organic electronics, which prefigures many extraordinary applications like lighting walls, electronic newspapers and television screens so thin they can be rolled up. Two special Jury Prizes were awarded by the Jury: A special Jury Prize was given to the idea of combining Solvay's skills and technologies with those of Petrovax to produce in Russia three novel and next-generation influenza vaccines for the Russian and CIS markets, Grippol Plus®, MonoGrippol® Neo and the first trivalent adjuvant cell-based seasonal influenza vaccine Grippol® Neo for Russia. The second special Jury Prize celebrated the idea to produce bio-PVC in Brazil from ethylene produced from locally grown sugar cane and salt instead of using oil-derived ethylene. Bio-PVC offers two essential advantages: it is made out of a local renewable natural resource and it offers the possibility for PVC supply to keep track of market growth despite a tight ethylene sourcing. The Executive Committee of the Solvay Group awarded a special COMEX prize to the polymerization technology called Branching & Pseudoliving, which allows the preparation of fluoroelastomers with controlled macromolecular structure, leading to products with unique properties not obtainable by conventional techniques. This laureate of the Solvay Innovation Trophy 2003 achieved remarkable financial results and strong growth, giving Solvay a robust leadership in the high-performance sealing and gaskets markets. SOLVAY is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with headquarters in Brussels. It employs more than 29,000 people in 50 countries. In 2008, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.5 billion, generated by its three sectors of activity: Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals. Solvay is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels (NYSE Euronext: SOLB.BE - Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBt.BR). Details are available at www.solvay.com. For further information please contact: ERIK DE LEYE Corporate Press Officer SOLVAY S.A. Tel: +32 2 509 7230 erik.deleye@solvay.com www.solvaypress.com PATRICK VERELST Head of Investor Relations SOLVAY S.A. Tel. +32 2 509 7243 patrick.verelst@solvay.com www.solvay-investors.com Ce communiqué de presse est également disponible en français - Dit persbericht is ook in het Nederlands beschikbaar Copyright Hugin This announcement is originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. [CN#161390]