Maastricht / Geleen - ARLANXEO’s Keltan business has successfully hosted a two-day event during which scientists, experts and students discussed the future challenges of Keltan® EPDM.

The 2018 Keltan Innovation Challenge was held in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and was attended by professors and students of four research and educational institutions: German Institute of Rubber Technology (Hannover), Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Maastricht University and University of Twente, who were invited to debate and share ideas on key aspects of the EPDM value chain.

A tour of the Keltan EPDM production facility in Geleen was included in the program as well as a presentation by Martin Clemesha, Technical Account Manager at Braskem, on Braskem’s “I’m green™” program, under which the company produces polyethylenes based on sugar cane in a dedicated plant with an annual capacity of 200,000 metrical tons. Braskem is a major South American petrochemical corporation and operates plastics production plants in Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Germany.

The event also marked 50 years of Keltan EPDM Innovation. Over the years, continuous innovation with an ever-increasing focus on sustainability, has led to key developments, such as the introduction of Keltan® Eco, the world’s first commercial EPDM produced from bio-based feedstock, and of Keltan ACE™ catalyst technology for producing EPDM with less energy and fewer emissions.

According to Gerard van Doremaele, Head of Research and Development at Keltan, this event was not only organized to look back on Keltan’s key developments, but also to cultivate sustainable innovation for the next 50 years. “For us the key question is: how can Keltan continue to contribute to a more sustainable world? We invited this audience to help us challenge established ideas and provide new perspectives on the future of EPDM.”

Niels van der Aar, Head of Technical Service and Application Development at Keltan, adds: “We staged the event as a competition to give motivation, focus, and some fun to the topics of sustainability and innovation. The program was rather intense, but it delivered a variety of good ideas. Some of these were very practical and short-term, others were long-term and ambitious. All shared our vision for a greener world and a greener product. During the Innovation Challenge, we tracked all these ideas and we are reviewing them now. New ideas continue to help us drive the business forward.”

Niels van der Aar concluded: “While sustainable innovation was the key topic for this particular event, we also focus on premium quality, best service and global partnership. This is recognized and appreciated by our customers.”

About ARLANXEO
ARLANXEO is a world-leading synthetic rubber company with sales of around EUR 3.2 billion in 2017, about 3,800 employees and a presence at 20 production sites in nine countries. The company’s core business is the development, manufacturing and marketing of high-performance rubber for use in, for example, the automotive and tire industries, the construction industry, and the oil and gas industries. ARLANXEO was established in April 2016 as a joint venture of LANXESS and Saudi Aramco. 

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