ChemChain - Blockchain-based Chemical Supply Chain Traceability
Sector: Secondary sector · Industry: Chemical industry · Organisation: Solvay · Maturity level: Pilot
Solvay is testing the EU-funded blockchain platform ChemChain for traceability of chemical substances in global supply chains. The system uses digital tokens to securely document material flows and aims to promote circular economy initiatives, for example in yarn solutions for textiles. The proof-of-concept was conducted until mid-2021 and Solvay has signed an agreement to deploy the solution across various business units.
Documentation status
- Project status: Pilot
- Evidence: Evidence high
- Editorial review: Ufuk Avci, 15 April 2026
Description
Solvay uses the ChemChain platform to represent chemical substances as digital tokens. These tokens travel with the product through the supply chain, accumulating information about composition, handling, use, and exposure. ChemChain was developed by the team behind the regulatory platform Chemycal and is a decentralised, open-source blockchain infrastructure. According to ChemChain, 80% of companies report growing demand for product chemistry data — which is often unavailable along the value chain.
Solvay, a Belgian chemical and materials company with revenue and market capitalisation each exceeding 10 billion euros, has partnered with ChemChain as part of the EU-funded ChemChain project. The proof of concept was planned for mid-2021. Technically, the system works as follows: chemical substances are recorded as digital tokens during production, representing the quantity and type of substance. These tokens are passed on to downstream actors in the supply chain, accumulating information about handling, use, and exposure. This allows textile companies to trace the exact origin of their materials, consumers to learn whether a product is recycled or biodegradable, and recycling companies to know the exact composition of the material to be used. Solvay aims to produce 15% of its products from renewable or recycled raw materials by 2030. The proof of concept also involved Solvay’s GBU Novecare unit with surfactant formulations, together with a global personal care company and a major palm oil producer. The global chemical industry spends around 9.5 billion euros annually on regulatory information about 150,000 chemicals — while facing massive transparency gaps.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
Companies along the chemical value chain gain continuous access to chemical data for the first time via ChemChain — selectively and only visible to authorised partners through a proprietary end-to-end encryption process on the blockchain. This enables compliance evidence without revealing trade secrets.
B2C — consumers perspective
Consumers gain access to information on whether a product consists of recycled or biodegradable materials. Recycling companies know the exact chemical composition of the material they need to process.
Employees perspective
Employees in compliance and product management can retrieve origin and composition data directly from the blockchain instead of manually requesting it from suppliers — a process that has been extremely time-consuming in the industry until now.
Benefits
General
- Increased transparency in complex global supply chains through immutable blockchain documentation.
- Promotion of the circular economy through better traceability and material recovery.
- Automation of compliance processes through smart contracts reduces manual effort.
B2B — organisations
- Improved collaboration between supply chain partners through a shared, trusted data platform.
B2C — consumers
- Increased trust in sustainable production methods through transparent material provenance.
Employees
- Reduction of repetitive documentation tasks enables focus on strategic sustainability initiatives.
Challenges
General
- High technical complexity in integrating blockchain systems into existing IT infrastructures.
- Necessary willingness of all supply chain partners to share data and jointly use the platform.
B2B — organisations
- Requirement for significant investments in new technologies and employee training for blockchain skills.
Employees
- Training needs for new digital workflows and blockchain-based documentation processes.
Technology foundation
ChemChain uses a decentralised open-source blockchain infrastructure combined with encryption technology. This technology is particularly suitable as it enables trusted and globally accepted documentation of material flows without requiring all supply chain participants to trust each other.
Implementation examples
ChemChain pilot at Solvay for textile yarn solutions
Solvay wanted to improve transparency in complex global supply chains and promote circular economy initiatives. The company sought solutions for better traceability of chemical substances and to support sustainable material recovery.
Solvay tested ChemChain for traceability of yarn solutions for the textile industry. The pilot project was conducted until mid-2021 and an implementation agreement for various business units was signed.
Solvay conducted a comprehensive proof-of-concept with the EU-funded ChemChain platform to improve the traceability of chemical substances in the supply chain. The pilot focused on yarn solutions for textiles and used digital tokens to document material flows. The project aimed to enable cradle-to-cradle circular processes and facilitate material return to Solvay. After successful completion of the proof-of-concept, Solvay signed an agreement to deploy the ChemChain solution across various business units.
The blockchain solution addressed the challenge of lacking transparency in global chemical supply chains and the complexity of material traceability. ChemChain enabled the secure exchange of trustworthy information about material compositions between different supply chain partners.
Tags
Supply chain, Traceability, Circular economy, Transparency, Compliance