Production starts at new Evonik multi-purpose silicone facility

Geesthacht, Germany – Evonik Industries AG has started production at a new multi-purpose silicones manufacturing facility in Geesthacht, the company announced 15 July.

Located 30km outside Hamburg, the ‘double-digit million euro’ factory was inaugurated in January and now produces silicones and silyl-terminated polymers (SMPs), which Evonik sells under the brand names Polymer VS and Polymer ST.

The site’s products can be used in various applications, including parquet adhesive flooring, liquid membranes for roofing or electronical potting. 

Evonik said the new capacities, the amount of which was not disclosed, will enable it to supply products to customers faster and more reliably. 

“We commissioned the facility’s new tank farm before the full impact of the Covid-19 virus was realised, but still had testing to do before we could be fully operational,” said Sabine Giessler-Blank, head of the polymer & construction specialties product line. 

The company, she went on to say, “still managed to complete the project on schedule despite several additional safety measures.”

The Geesthacht site is expected to employ 100 employees and will focus on two areas: silicone and nanotechnology.

The addition- and condensation-curing silicones as well as the SMPs are used as binders in adhesives and sealants, electronics and medical applications.

Among other things, the silica-based nanomaterials will serve as property-enhancing additives in fibre composites, used in the automotive and aerospace industries.