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Located in Serquigny, in the heart of the Haute-Normandie region, the Cerdato is one of Arkema’s thirteen research and development centers in the world and the first in Europe dedicated to high-performance materials.

Created in 1979, the Cerdato relies on solid technical partnerships with Arkema’s customers located in the region, such as Technip Flexi-France, Acome, and Renault.

The Cerdato R&D Center in Serquigny

For 40 years now, researchers at the Cerdato have been creating, improving, and developing polymer materials and optimizing their manufacturing processes to respond to market developments. From automobiles to cosmetics, along with sports and leisure, electronics/electricity, packaging, energy, the petroleum industry, and composites for aeronautics, all these markets benefit from research and development at the Cerdato.

The combination of active listening to the markets and scientific expertise, supported by strong relationships with the academic world, allows the Cerdato to regularly launch new ranges of products that meet the challenges of tomorrow. Strongly committed to a sustainable development approach, the Cerdato draws on its long experience in plant chemistry, of which the Serquigny site was the birthplace in 1947, the date since which Rilsan®, a polyamide made from castor oil, has been produced (Rilsan® celebrated its 70th birthday in 2017).

Since then, the Cerdato has continued to expand its portfolio of biosourced materials.

Three Business Areas

The Cerdato’s research activities are organized around three business areas:

  • The Synthesis division develops new products from the laboratory to the pilot unit.
  • The Materials division analyzes polymers and assesses their properties in terms of mechanical strength and durability.
  • The Transformation division optimizes the performance of polymers by formulating them through compounding and tests their ability to be transformed into molded, extruded, or coated objects, in real size or through digital simulation.

The Cerdato employs around 250 people of all skill levels (from technical degree to doctor/engineer) in research, development, maintenance, and health/safety/environment. The establishment makes a significant investment in the continuing professional training of employees (4.5% of the payroll) and also maintains an active policy of integration of young people through apprenticeship and training.

Certified ISO 9001, the Cerdato has initiated a “Safety First” management approach involving all its teams. In 2002, this approach earned the Serquigny platform the first “Safety Prevention” prize from the Union of Chemical Industries (UIC) in Haute-Normandie.

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