Silicone Sealants: WACKER Holds Topping-Out Ceremony for New Production Plant at its Nünchritz Site

At the topping-out ceremony, Michael Dehmer, head of production for silicones at the Nünchritz site, emphasized the importance of the expansion project. “Today’s celebration marks a milestone for the site and underlines our commitment to ongoing growth and innovation. The new production building will be used to manufacture one-component alkoxy silicone sealants. These sealants improve thermal insulation in buildings and are also considered to be particularly consumer-friendly. By expanding production, we are making a major contribution to a sustainable future.”

Neutral-curing silicone sealants are suitable for sealing windows, doors and joints, both indoors and outdoors, and can also be used for sensitive building materials, such as natural stone or metal. As high-quality sealing materials, they also play a vital role in enhancing building insulation. WACKER is now expanding production of these sealants at the Nünchritz site. The plans include the construction of a fully continuous compounding unit and the expansion of cartridge filling. The new production lines will be built next to the existing facilities and will be seamlessly integrated into existing production operations and processes.

“Alcohol-curing silicone sealants have very good product and processing properties. In addition, no by-products other than alcohol are released during curing. For this reason, such sealants are increasingly in demand, especially in Europe,” says Wolfgang Schattenmann, head of the Hybrids & Sealants business unit at WACKER SILICONES. “With our alkoxy silicones, we are focusing on the key technology of the future that fully meets the growing requirements of the construction industry in terms of processability, sustainability and consumer protection.”

The expansion project will significantly increase WACKER’s pro-duction capacity for silicone sealants and cartridges in Nünchritz. Depending on the product, the facility will be capable of filling up to an additional 30 million cartridges each year. Some €20 million has been budgeted for the new production lines. Production is scheduled to go on stream in the first quarter of 2025. The expansion project will create nearly a dozen new jobs at the site.

Silicone Sealants

Thanks to their outstanding properties, room-temperature-curing silicone sealants solve a wide variety of sealing, bonding and coating problems. Construction silicones, for example, are used for waterproofing bathroom facilities, windows and doors, masonry, natural stone joints and in aquarium construction. Silicone sealants are supplied as one-component, ready-to-use systems. Depending on the nature of the crosslinker, a small amount of an amine, acetic acid or a neutral compound, such as alcohol, is released during curing.