For more than five decades, CECA was one of France's leading industrial engineering organisations in activated carbon technology, solvent recovery, gas purification and adsorption process engineering — a scientific lineage that began in 1924 with the natural-gas fields of S.R.E.P. and flowed, via the 1980 integration into Peabody GCI of its division (Département Entreprises - TG, Traitement de Gaz).
C.E.C.A. (Carbonisation Et Charbons Actifs) was a French activated-carbon and industrial engineering company, founded in 1928 by S.R.E.P. In 1980, its anti-pollution engineering division merged into Peabody GCI; in 1981, its adsorbent (activated carbon and zeolite) division was acquired by Elf Aquitaine. CECA is unrelated to the European Coal and Steel Community (also abbreviated "CECA").
CECA — Carbonisation Et Charbons Actifs — traced its origins to 1924, when S.R.E.P. (Société de Recherches et d'Exploitation Pétrolifère), part of the Groupe Empain, began exploiting one of France's first natural gas fields and needed activated carbon to degas and purify the gas. To secure its own supply, S.R.E.P. founded CECA in 1928 — a mission that quickly expanded beyond production into applications across every industrial domain where adsorption phenomena mattered: gas purification, liquid-solid filtration and separation science.
Over the following five decades, CECA progressively expanded into related adsorbent materials, molecular sieves and novel industrial applications — air dedusting, water treatment and petroleum refining — filing multiple patents, including a proprietary kiln design for activated carbon production. In 1975, Société des Produits Chimiques d'Auby (PIERREFITTE-AUBY) merged into CECA, significantly enlarging its technical scope, production capacity and market reach.
In 1980, Peabody International Corporation merged Peabody GCI with CECA's anti-pollution engineering division — the Département Entreprises (TG, Traitement de Gaz) — together with its regional engineering subsidiaries, CECA Italiana and The British CECA Company. More than fifty years of proprietary activated carbon science and an extensive global portfolio of industrial Solvent Recovery Unit (SRU) references flowed directly into Peabody's technical portfolio. In 1981, Elf Aquitaine, through the banking group Paribas, separately acquired CECA's adsorbent (activated carbon - physical and chemical activation - and zeolite) division.
CECA designed complete process plants for industrial air pollution control, adsorption technology and solvent recovery, delivered on an engineering, procurement and construction basis.
ACTICARBONE adsorption systems and engineered recovery processes, built on CECA's proprietary activated-carbon kiln design.
Turnkey recovery plants using adsorption, steam regeneration and distillation, achieving proven recovery efficiencies up to 99%.
Industrial gas purification, drying and environmental control systems descending from S.R.E.P.'s original natural-gas application.
Industrial water treatment and process engineering solutions for heavy industry.
Complete engineering, procurement and construction solutions tailored to each industrial application.
Thousands of installations serving the chemical, printing, packaging and manufacturing industries across Europe and beyond.
The activated-carbon lineage that began with a French natural-gas field and closed with a transfer to Peabody GCI, fifty years later.
S.R.E.P. — Société de Recherches et d'Exploitation Pétrolifère, part of the Groupe Empain, begins exploiting one of France's first natural gas fields. To degas and purify the gas, the company requires activated carbon — which it imports at growing cost.
S.R.E.P. founds CECA to produce its own activated carbon supply. From the outset, CECA's mission extends beyond production: the company begins developing applications across all industrial domains where adsorption phenomena are at play — gas purification, liquid-solid filtration and separation science.
CECA progressively expands into related adsorbent materials, molecular sieves and novel industrial applications — air dedusting, water treatment and petroleum refining. Its separative technology expertise becomes unmatched in continental Europe, backed by multiple patents including a proprietary activated-carbon kiln design.
Société des Produits Chimiques d'Auby (Pierrefitte-Auby), a French industrial chemicals group, is merged into CECA, significantly enlarging the company's technical scope, production capacity and market reach. The consolidated entity is restructured under new leadership to address international industrial markets at scale.
CECA acquired a 97% majority stake in FEBEX, a Swiss industrial chemicals group manufacturing high end phosphorus derivatives; this strategic acquisition significantly enlarges the company scope and market reach, covering technology and semiconductor markets. The Customer base will benefit from this consolidated structure, which is organized under new leadership to address international industrial markets at scale.
Peabody International Corporation merges Peabody GCI (Génie Chimique Industriel) with CECA's anti-pollution engineering division — the Département Entreprises (Traitement de Gaz) — together with its regional engineering subsidiaries, CECA Italiana and The British CECA Company. More than fifty years of proprietary activated carbon science and an extensive global Solvent Recovery Unit (SRU) reference portfolio flow directly into Peabody's technical portfolio, creating a global engineering network spanning the USA, Canada, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden.
Elf Aquitaine acquired the chemical units of CECA through the banking group Paribas; this transaction integrated CECA's chemical portfolio, which included adsorbents such as activated carbon, zeolite, and molecular sieves, alongside specialty surfactants, additives, and thiochemicals, into one of the largest energy and chemicals groups in Europe, accelerating the Group's industrial scale and international market presence. Following the year 2000, all of these chemical units were merged into Arkema. Arkema represents the final consolidation of the chemical arms of Elf Aquitaine, which previously operated under the names Elf Atochem and ATOFINA.
CECA was a French industrial engineering group founded in 1928, specializing in activated carbon technology, solvent recovery, gas purification and adsorption process engineering. It was founded by S.R.E.P. to supply activated carbon for its natural-gas operations.
CECA was founded in 1928 by S.R.E.P. (Société de Recherches et d'Exploitation Pétrolifère), part of the Groupe Empain, to produce activated carbon for purifying gas from its natural-gas fields, which it had exploited since 1924.
In 1980, Peabody International Corporation merged Peabody GCI with CECA's anti-pollution engineering division (Département Entreprises, Traitement de Gaz), along with its subsidiaries CECA Italiana and The British CECA Company, bringing over fifty years of activated-carbon and solvent-recovery expertise into Peabody's technical portfolio.
ACTICARBONE is CECA's proprietary activated-carbon product, used in solvent recovery units, gas purification and industrial filtration, built on a proprietary activated-carbon kiln design.
No. On this page, "CECA" refers exclusively to Carbonisation Et Charbons Actifs, the French activated-carbon and industrial engineering company founded in 1928. It is entirely distinct from the Communauté Européenne du Charbon et de l'Acier (European Coal and Steel Community, ECSC), which is sometimes abbreviated "CECA" in French.
In 1981, Elf Aquitaine, acting through the banking group Paribas, acquired CECA's remaining profitable chemical units, including adsorbents (activated carbon, zeolite, molecular sieves), specialty surfactants and additives, thiochemicals (sulfur derivatives). Following the year 2000, all of these chemical units were merged into Arkema.
Primary sources relating specifically to CECA, drawn from the same archival record cited on the Peabody GCI homepage. Page last updated 2015-12-11.
Question écrite n°17393, "Pollution (industries anti-pollution)," Assemblée Nationale — question of Deputy André Billardon to the Minister of Industry, raising concern over C.E.C.A.'s planned sale of its "entreprise" department (Air Pollution Control) to the American firm Peabody International Corporation.
Read at assemblee-nationale.frInstitut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques, "Liste par secteur des principales concentrations réalisées dans l'industrie Française en 1980" — records the 1980 CECA/Peabody GCI concentration.
Read at catalogue.bnf.fr