Wacker opens US innovation centre

Wacker Chemie has opened its regional innovation centre at Ann Arbor, Michigan. The building covers 13,000 m2 on a 70,000 m2 site and will bring R&D in biotech and silicone under one roof in over 20 technical and analytical laboratories.

This will also be the headquarters of the Wacker subsidiary managing business activities in North and Central America. Some 50 employees will relocate there from another site Adrian, also in Michigan, where the company has produced silicones for over 50 years.

The company said that this campus, which represents an investment of around €40 million, is part of the growth campaign it announced at the end of March. “Wacker intends to significantly expand its market position in the USA and other target regions through investments in R&D, additional production capacities and accelerated growth,” it said.

The focus of R&D work there will be special products for sustainable technologies and applications, such as skin-sensitive silicone adhesives for wound care and portable medical devices, silicone-based defoamers and novel cyclodextrins for food supplements. Circular economy and the recycling possibilities of silicones will also be a major topic.