Röhm boosts research with new innovation center at Worms site

• Röhm celebrates official opening of its new innovation center

After only 18 months of construction, the chemical company Röhm officially opened a new innovation center at its site in Worms, Germany, together with the managing partner of the Thelen Group, the real estate investor and general contractor for the project, as well as guests from the world of politics and business. The company is pooling its European research activities at the state-of-the-art complex, which consists of a laboratory building and a technical center with pilot plants.

“Our innovation center will become an incubator for future-oriented technologies in methacrylate chemistry, and will strengthen our leading position in Europe and beyond,” said CEO Michael Pack in his welcoming speech. The festivities were attended by the Prime Minister Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer.

Special emphasis was placed on sustainability and energy efficiency during construction. “We have achieved the highest energy efficiency standard possible,” says Wolfgang Thelen, Managing Partner of the Thelen Group. The photovoltaic system planned for both roofs covers a large part of the buildings’ electricity needs, and heating is supplied by heat pumps.

Employees from Research and Production will work closely together at Röhm’s largest production site in Worms. Röhm has already invested significantly at the site in recent years, including new production plants and capacity expansions. The innovation center will create a further 100 attractive jobs at the location. Employees working in Research, Development, and Application Technology will collaborate on the development and optimization of innovative products, processes, and applications at the new Innovation Center. Sustainability will be a major action field for the teams, driven by Röhm’s strategic goal to achieve climate-neutral production by 2050.

Röhm’s employees will enjoy ideal research conditions at the new innovation center. And the next generation will benefit from the facilities too, with around 100 apprentices completing their training at the site.

Röhm has also reinforced its research activities internationally, establishing research centers in China and the USA, which have also recently gone into operation.