ACTEGA Rhenania has inaugurated its new laboratory building in Grevenbroich on June 5. The company, which belongs to the specialty chemicals group ALTANA, invested around 10 million euros in the new building. The building has an area of 5,700 square meters, doubling ACTEGA Rhenania’s space for research and development. “With this investment we are considerably boosting our innovative strength and bolstering one of our most important competitive advantages,” says Dr. Thomas Sawitowski, the managing director of ACTEGA Rhenania GmbH.
Special Customer Technology Center
A special feature of the new building, which at full capacity will accommodate around 70 employees, is the customer technology center. It encompasses various manufacturing plants in miniature format and enables ACTEGA to understand production processes and specific customer requirements better in practice than is possible under pure laboratory conditions. Not only ACTEGA Rhenania but also other companies in the ACTEGA division will make use of it.
“With the new building, the Grevenbroich site, to which we have been true for more than 100 years, will become one of the worldwide innovation centers for ACTEGA,” says Dr. Thomas Sawitowski, the managing director of ACTEGA Rhenania GmbH.
Developing Tailor-made Solutions
The company has traditionally worked closely with its customers in order to understand their needs in detail and to develop tailor-made solutions. This results in products that almost everyone comes into contact in daily life. Many of these solutions help prolong the shelf life of food products.
Among ACTEGA Rhenania’s most well-known products are inner coatings for yogurt lids. The aluminum foil used for this purpose is coated with a food-friendly coating manufactured by ACTEGA Rhenania that keeps the contents fresh and protects the lid from corrosion. The Grevenbroich-based company recently developed a PVC-free coating that enables packaging manufacturers to use significantly thinner foils, which can be recycled better. Thanks to this innovation, considerable amounts of aluminum can be saved.
Source: ACTEGA