2011 was a special year for the chemical industry – it was the United Nations’ International Year of Chemistry. The chemical industry is crucial for Germany’s competitiveness and innovative strength, as well as for improving the quality of life around the world. In Germany, the sector employs over 400,000 people. Every year, chemical companies invest more than €8 billion in research and development – that’s 16 percent of Germany’s total R&D spending. WACKER contributes its share to this – with R&D investments at 3.5 percent of total company sales, it’s among the world’s most research-intensive chemical companies.
Chemistry tops mechanical engineering as Germany’s key technology driver. Innovations in our sector regularly give rise to innovations in other sectors. WACKER’s many thousand silicone products are highly versatile – they are used in the automotive industry, as well as for energy transmission and medical engineering. We constantly strive to develop these products further and make them fit for other applications, too. In addition, Wacker Chemie AG generates almost a quarter of its sales with novel products that have come onto the market within the past five years.
Without chemistry, we cannot solve the big global challenges of the future. We need it to supply people in rapidly growing megacities with sufficient clean water and high-quality food and to treat illnesses. We need chemistry to conserve energy, to generate it in a sustainable manner and to store it. The UN “Year of Chemistry” has certainly helped to underline chemistry’s contribution to climate protection. According to an ICCA (International Council of Chemical Associations) study, over their entire lifetime, many chemical products help save double the greenhouse gas emissions that their production generates. In solar modules, WACKER’s polysilicon contributes to generating clean electricity; in exterior insulation and finish systems, our VAE dispersions serve to reduce heating costs.
The chemical industry strives to improve its contribution to a more sustainable lifestyle and economic policy – not only in its products, but in its production processes, too. German chemical companies alone have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by a third since 1990, despite a 58 percent production increase. The chemical industry will continue to act as an engine for bringing new and better products to the market, and to do so using fewer resources. WACKER will contribute here in the future, too.
