Arkema Opens €150 Million Acrylic Acid Purification Unit
Arkema has inaugurated a new acrylic acid purification unit at its Carling production site in France, completing one of the company’s largest industrial investments in the country.
The project represents an investment of nearly €150 million and forms part of Arkema’s broader decarbonization program. The company said cumulative investment supporting that program could reach €400 million between 2022 and 2030.
The Carling facility is one of Europe’s major acrylic production sites. It manufactures acrylic monomers used in performance coatings, adhesives, water treatment products and other advanced materials.
According to Arkema, the purification technology improves the energy efficiency of the process by 25% and reduces the carbon intensity of operations at the site by 20%. The company also reports lower solvent consumption and improvements in resource and waste management.
The project was approved in 2023 and received partial funding through the French government’s France 2030 program, operated by ADEME and supported through the European Union’s NextGenerationEU program.
Arkema positioned the investment as part of an effort to maintain competitive European production of lower-carbon acrylic materials while reducing the energy and emissions associated with an established chemical manufacturing operation.
Acrylic monomers are key building blocks for a broad range of coatings resins and polymers. The investment adds production and purification capability while giving formulators and manufacturers another data point for evaluating the energy and carbon profile of European raw-material supply.
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