Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries, has laid the foundation stones for two research and development centers at the company’s Essen, Germany, site.

ESSEN, Germany - Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries, has laid the foundation stones for two research and development centers at the company’s Essen, Germany, site. One center is for new, environmentally friendly additives and special binders for the coatings industry. The other center is for innovative and sustainable products for the cosmetics industry. In total, the group is set to invest some EUR 31 million in the two building complexes. The innovation center for the coatings industry is to be completed at the end of 2012, the innovation center for the cosmetics industry at the start of 2013. Over 180 employees will then move into a new and modern work environment.

The coatings industry is an important market for the company’s Coatings & Additives Business Unit, one in which Evonik is a major manufacturer of binders, pigments, crosslinking agents, color pastes, matting agents and additives. In quest of new solutions and products, some 90 employees will conduct research activities at the innovation center. They will focus in particular on the environment and resource efficiency. The total costs of the building come to approximately EUR 14.4 million.