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| Symbolic start of the new production facility |
The total investment of around EUR 20 million also includes the associated infrastructure and logistics. The films are used in security cards, automotive interiors, medical devices and displays. Some 15 new jobs will be created to operate the coextrusion plant.
"This investment represents a significant expansion of our films business and a boost to Dormagen's position as a competence center for high-quality films," said Chief Technology Officer Dr. Klaus Schäfer responsible for Production and Technology. "Establishing the new film production plant is part of our ongoing series of investments in the Dormagen site."
In 2014, Covestro commissioned a new large-scale facility for TDI foam components there. Last year, a pilot plant was opened that for the first time uses carbon dioxide (CO2) as a raw material for high-grade plastics precursors, thus replacing some of the petroleum.
Focusing on the growing films business
Nina Schmarander, global head of the Specialty Films business at Covestro, welcomes the new facility as an opportunity to respond more quickly and flexibly to customer requirements in future: "This enables us to meet the growing demand for high-quality flat films and align ourselves even better with market trends. At the same time, it expands our range of tailored products, which create added value along the entire value chain."
Covestro offers a diverse range of polycarbonate and thermoplastic elastomer films for a wide variety of applications, as well as a range of premium specialty films. The new facility is a further developmental step for multilayer film structures. These play a key role in ID cards because security features can be embedded, thus providing the best possible protection from counterfeiting.
Three competence centers manage development
Specializing in polycarbonate flat films, the competence center in Dormagen is home to production, a technical center for film processing, a showroom and two freshly renovated research laboratories. The other two centers are in Leverkusen and Bomlitz, and focus on film coatings and thermoplastic elastomer films.
