Sustainable production at WACKER means we conserve resources, save energy, avoid waste and develop environmentally sound solutions internally and for our customers. WACKER’s integrated product policy (IPP) is virtually identical with the Responsible Care® philosophy espoused by the chemical industry. In practice this means that new products are deemed sustainable – and deserve our support – when they are superior to existing ones from cradle to grave, i.e. from production through sale and use to ultimate disposal or recycling. Focal aspects of IPP include health protection, environmental behavior, energy consumption during manufacture and use, and post-consumer re-usability of some or all of the product.

Specialty water-repellent silanes from WACKER can protect concrete structures from salt penetration for many years. In wet and cold conditions, the combination of water and the de-icing salt used on the roads presents an enormous threat to concrete structures: the porous nature of the concrete means that the salt penetrates inside the piers, where it damages the steel reinforcement, accelerates corrosion and leads to rusting. Specialty silanes from WACKER are able to form a water-repellent coating on the walls of the pores to a depth of about six millimeters, significantly reducing ingress of salt and water. This deep impregnation treatment lasts 15 to 20 years, after which it can be readily repeated.