GREVENBROICH, Germany - ACTEGA Rhenania, a global specialist in coatings and adhesives, inaugurated its new laboratory building in Grevenbroich, Germany, on June 5. The company, which belongs to the specialty chemicals group ALTANA, invested around €10 million in the new building. With an area of 5,700 square meters, ACTEGA Rhenania has doubled the space for research and development. "This investment significantly strengthens our innovative strength and secures one of our key competitive advantages," said Dr. Thomas Sawitowski, Managing Director of ACTEGA Rhenania GmbH.

A special feature of the new building, in which around 70 employees will work at full capacity, is the customer technical center. It incorporates a variety of miniature production facilities, allowing ACTEGA to better understand the production processes and specific needs of customers in the field. Not only ACTEGA Rhenania, but also other companies of the ACTEGA division can now make use of it.

"The Grevenbroich site, to which we have been faithful for more than 100 years, will become one of the worldwide innovation centers for ACTEGA," said Dr. Ing. Thomas Sawitowski, Managing Director of ACTEGA Rhenania GmbH.

The company traditionally works closely with its customers to understand their needs and to develop tailor-made solutions. This creates products that almost everyone comes into contact with in everyday life. Often, these solutions help to extend the shelf life of foods. One of ACTEGA Rhenania's best-known products is, for example, the inner coating for yogurt lids. The aluminum foil used for this purpose is coated with a food-grade varnish produced by ACTEGA Rhenania, which keeps the contents fresh and protects the lid against corrosion. Most recently, Grevenbroicher developed a PVC-free coating that allows packaging manufacturers to use much thinner films that are easier to recycle. This can save significant amounts of aluminum.

ACTEGA is a division of the internationally operating specialty chemicals company ALTANA and develops and produces coatings, sealants, inks and adhesives for flexible and rigid packaging and the graphic arts industry.