A new service champion for the chemical industry and other industries is being created in North Rhine-Westphalia. Evonik is bundling its infrastructure activities, which were previously concentrated in the Marl and Wesseling chemical parks, into a single unit. The new company is called SYNEQT GmbH and is scheduled to commence operations on January 1, 2026. With around 3,500 employees and sales of around €1.8 billion, SYNEQT will then be one of the largest providers of services to the process industry in North Rhine-Westphalia and will also rank among the top providers nationwide.
“Until now, we have largely combined everything under one roof at Evonik,” says Thomas Wessel, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director at Evonik, who is responsible for Evonik's infrastructure units. “In a world where more and more specialist knowledge is needed to stay at the top of the game, a different approach is needed. That's why we're bringing our highly qualified and experienced service specialists from Marl and Wesseling together in SYNEQT. The result is a powerful company with medium-sized structures and short decision-making paths.”
SYNEQT combines Evonik's two strongest infrastructure units in the Rhine and Ruhr regions. As a result, the company has extensive experience in all services related to chemical plants and other process industries. Its areas of expertise include energy supply, pipeline construction and operation, secure building and plant management, technical services, waste disposal, port operations, plant logistics, and firefighting, as well as plant security and canteen operations. “At SYNEQT, we have combined all the qualifications and fundamentals needed to develop the sites into climate-neutral, digitally networked, and highly flexible industrial ecosystems with modular, tailor-made assets, closed material cycles, and smart services in the long term,” says Thomas Basten, spokesperson for the SYNEQT management board. “In the future, we will be able to focus fully on these core tasks, thereby retaining existing customers in the long term and attracting new ones.”
SYNEQT will start in January as a wholly owned subsidiary of Evonik. In the future, investors of various sizes may be able to join in order to tap into further growth funds for the business. However, options of this kind are still being examined. “We are carefully considering which path offers the best prospects for SYNEQT and the Group,” emphasizes Thomas Wessel. “We are taking the time necessary to do this.” The transfer of employees to SYNEQT will not fundamentally change their working conditions. Evonik has concluded corresponding agreements with employee representatives to this effect. However, SYNEQT employees are not exempt from Evonik's long-term efficiency measures such as “Evonik Tailor Made.” The aim is to position SYNEQT as an efficient, sustainable company with powerful structures.
Evonik has been both the operator and user of the chemical parks in Marl and Wesseling. In the future, the company intends to focus more strongly on its core business, chemical production. Therefore, approximately two years ago, it announced its intention to establish the service units as independent entities by the end of 2025 and to seek the best possible operating model. The divisions now bundled in SYNEQT already serve around two dozen companies with customized services in addition to Evonik. “We have an industry-leading energy, material, and data network system and a very high level of security,” says Thomas Basten. “We want to further expand this offering in the future with targeted investments, for example in digital services, and thus become even more attractive to customers outside the plant premises.
Growth opportunities within the existing chemical parks arise from their location in the Ruhr area and Rhineland, two established, strong regions for the chemical industry in Germany. In addition to the high overall level of service, there is also good infrastructure. Marl and Wesseling already operate an industrial hydrogen network and are connected to important raw material and energy pipelines. “In the chemical region south of Cologne, there are many opportunities for SYNEQT GmbH to support its customers on their way to a climate-neutral and economical future,” says Arndt Selbach, who heads the Wesseling Chemical Park at SYNEQT.
