Chemviron, a Kuraray company and European Operations of Calgon Carbon, is the leading global manufacturer and supplier of activated carbons, filter aids, innovative treatment systems, and services for safely purifying the environment and optimising production processes.

Calgon Carbon, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the world’s largest manufacturer of activated carbon, with production plants, service centres, and carbon reactivation facilities in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. 

Chemviron has the regional responsibility for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East with approximately 550 employees and headquartered in Feluy, Belgium. Chemviron has a network of technical sales engineers locally based across Europe and the UK. With the support of additional agents and distributors in Africa and the Middle East, Chemviron provides prompt regional support to all our international customers. 

In Feluy, Belgium, Chemviron operates the world's largest activated carbon reactivation facility, daily recycling large quantities of spent granular and pelletised carbons for a diverse range of customers and applications. Chemviron’s additional reactivation centres include Tipton, UK, and Legnago, Italy, providing a complete service to our customers across Europe. 

Feluy is also Chemviron’s main service centre for our mobile carbon filter fleet where our mobile filters are emptied, cleaned, serviced, stocked and refilled for prompt despatch to our customers.  These mobile units are specially designed to maximize performance and enable customers to quickly and cleanly exchange their filters with minimal down time.  

Chemviron has supporting regional service centres in Italy, Denmark and the UK and locally based application engineers and site service teams to support our reactivation and service businesses. 

Speciality impregnated activated carbons for the European market are produced at its plant near Manchester, UK and the Chemviron Cloth Division, located near Durham, UK, produces activated carbon cloth for a range of specialty applications. 

Chemviron manufactures steam and chemically activated wood-based carbons at its plant in Parentis-en-Born, France and diatomaceous earth and perlite filter aid products at its plants in Saint-Bauzile and Riom-ès-Montagnes, France and Foggia, Italy.

Supporting these manufacturing operations, Chemviron has multiple technical service and quality control laboratories, in Belgium, France, Italy and the UK. These laboratories are staffed with quality control experts that ensure a consistent product quality which is required for superior product performance.

Company History - A Timeline of Innovation

The origins of Chemviron are to be found in the United States in the 1940s. The US government asked Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical to begin developing activated carbons from a locally sourced native material and that was the beginning of the firm now known as Calgon Carbon Corporation.

  • 1942

    Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical Company, Inc. pioneers the development of a bituminous coal-based granular activated carbon for use in military respirator protection.

  • 1955

    The "Pittsburgh Pulse Bed" system is introduced – the first activated carbon system for sugar decolourisation.

  • 1960

    The Activated Carbon Division of Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical pioneers the use of granular activated carbon in drinking water treatment.

  • 1965

    Pittsburgh Activated Carbon Company (formerly Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical) is acquired by Calgon Corporation.

  • 1968

    Calgon Corporation acquired by Merck and Co., Inc.

  • 1970

    Chemviron, S.A, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium is established to pioneer water pollution control systems, products and engineering services in Europe.

  • 1971

    Chemviron install over 1000 m3 of GAC in a Scandinavian wtw which is the first recordable use of GAC for water treatment in Europe.

  • 1971

    Chemviron commenced the reactivation of spent activated carbons at their Grays reactivation centre UK.

  • 1976

    Chemviron commenced the reactivation of spent activated carbon for mainland Europe at their site in Feluy, Belgium.

  • 1984

    Chemviron introduced liquid phase mobile carbon filter service into Europe, initially for wastewater and process purification.

  • 1985

    Calgon Carbon is acquired by its management through a leveraged buyout to become an independent company.

  • 1990

    Calgon Carbon creates innovative chromium free impregnated carbons for military applications and industrial respirators.

  • 1991

    Following development of the effectiveness of GAC for pesticide removal, Chemviron made the first installation of Filtrasorb 400 for atrazine removal.

  • 1993

    Thames Water Utilities Ltd UK grants Calgon Carbon exclusive rights to market its new Sandwich Filter technology for the removal of pesticides and other organic compounds from drinking water.

  • 1995

    Calgon Carbon introduces Centaur, a revolutionary family of activated carbons specially manufactured to exhibit enhanced catalytic properties.

  • 1996

    Calgon Carbon acquires the Advanced Separation Technologies Inc – ISEP business and Charcoal Cloth (International) Ltd., a UK manufacturer of activated carbon in cloth form.

  • 1997

    Chemviron introduces a vapour phase mobile carbon filter service into Europe for air and gas purification.

  • 2004

    Calgon Carbon acquires Waterlink Specialty Products, known as Barneby Sutcliffe in the US, and Sutcliffe Speakman in Europe, enhancing the company’s capabilities in coconut carbons and carbon impregnation, expanding the product portfolio and adding new markets.

  • 2010

    Calgon Carbon acquires Zwicky Denmark and Zwicky Sweden who were local service providers and long-term distributors of Chemviron’s activated carbon products.

  • 2011

    Chemviron acquires the reactivation plant and Tipton UK site from Grafham Carbons, which after extensive refurbishment commences reactivation of spent drinking water and food grade carbons in 2016.

  • 2016

    Calgon Carbon acquires from CECA, the wood-based activated carbon plants in France, carbon reactivation plant in Italy and the diatomaceous earth and perlite filtration businesses in France and Italy.

  • 2018

    Kuraray Co., Ltd, a global specialty chemical company acquires Calgon Carbon Corporation. Calgon Carbon becomes part of the Functional Materials Company of Kuraray, as a separate subsidiary, along with Kuraray’s Carbon Material Business Division.

  • 2020

    Calgon Carbon announces the expansion in manufacturing capacity at its Pearlington, Mississippi plant which when complete, means the companies virgin granular activated carbon production capacity will exceed 200 million pounds per year.

  • 2021

    The Carbon Materials Division Of Kuraray and Calgon Carbon Division are merged to form the Kuraray Environmental Solutions Division in order to further expand Kuraray’s activated carbon-related businesses and realize greater synergy.

  • 2022

    Chemviron SA opens a fifth activated carbon reactivation furnace in Feluy, Belgium, which increased Chemviron’s European reactivation capacity to over 50,000 tons per year.

  • 2022

    EcoVadis, an independent provider of business sustainability ratings, awards Chemviron SA a Platinum medal, placing Chemviron in the top 1% of companies rated by EcoVadis in the industry.