Covestro said Oct. 8 it will invest about €100 million ($110 million) in its global R&D infrastructure and assets. The announcement comes a week after the company said it accepted an €14.7 billion ($16.7 billion) takeover offer from ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company).
The R&D investment will help Covestro advance its circularity goals, the company said.
The company highlighted several R&D milestones that will be further supported by the investments. This includes the implementation of end-to-end digitalization for in-mold coating to record all process-relevant data.
These innovations can enable high-quality surfaces for a modern car designs and more efficient auto production, the company said.
The company also is looking at high-performance computers at its Leverkusen, Germany, R&D center. These computers can simulate chemical processes, allowing for faster and more sustainable research processes. Covestro is using high-performance computers for foam-processing simulations for refrigerators, among others.
“Simulations of chemical processes are a key element in the development of recycling technologies and research on new molecule classifications,” said Torsten Heinemann, head of group innovation and sustainability at Covestro. “Moreover, laboratory digitalization enables test data to be recorded in higher quality and to a greater extent than is usual in analogue ways. Both help us to find the most possible and more sustainable solutions for our customers more quickly. Many developments in the field of recycling would be like looking for a needle in a haystack without digital R&D and simulations.”
The company also is exploring chemical recycling approaches for plastics that can’t be mechanically recycled or only recycled with considerable effort, such as mattress foams. Covestro has developed a technology for recovering the key components of the foam to convert them back into polyurethane building blocks.
The investment will also include a series of modernization and technical upgrades across its Pittsburgh campus and its innovation center in Shanghai, China.
ADNOC said when announcing the proposed acquisition on Oct. 1 that it views Covestro as “the foundational platform of its performance materials and specialty chemicals business and is convinced of Covestro's strategic perspective and its vision to become fully circular.”
