Arkema's Genay site
The Arkema platform in Genay is made up of a production unit and an R&D center. These two entities work together to optimize the manufacturing of rheological additives, used in water-based formulations, in particular for paint, paper, and detergents.
The platform in Genay was created in 1971. Twenty years later, it was fully integrated into the Swiss group OMYA, which is still one of our privileged customers to this day. In 1996, the site acquired a new dispersing agent manufacturing workshop.
The site in Genay became a full Arkema subsidiary in October 2007, five years before increasing its thickening agent production capacity through debottlenecking. The 12 hectares of the platform are located in Genay, north of Lyon, in the dynamic Rhône-Alpes region.
Coatex Genay includes:
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A production unit
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Coatex headquarters
The Genay production unit
With a total workforce of between 230 and 250 people, the platform in Genay exports 70 to 100 kt of finished products, 90% of which are for international markets.
The plant’s core business is the production of rheological additives for formulations in the aqueous phase. The Group is also one of the world’s flagships for such products. Its creations are used in various products: suspension of minerals in water for Rheosperse™, modification of rheology and water retention for coating colors thanks to Rheocoat™ and Rheocarb™, in the composition of dispersing agents in paper for Topsperse™, and as additives for aqueous paints for Rheotec™, Coapur™, Ecodis™, and Coadis™.
Other products are used in building materials, industrial specialties, water treatment, ceramics, and detergents.
Always at the forefront in terms of safety and the environment, the Genay site is certified ISO 9001, 14001, and 18001, and AIMS 2012.
The Genay site seen from the sky
The Genay site seen from the sky
The Genay site
Community Involvement
As part of the Common Ground® program, the site in Genay conducts awareness-raising actions for elected officials, residents, and school groups.
Included activities:
- Partnership with the local association Centre Neuville providing for the development and implementation of events by merchants on the central square of Neuville-sur-Saône, which becomes a lively passageway during the summer period.
- Discovery of the plant and laboratories by first-year chemical engineering and process engineering students at the Lyon 1 University Institute of Technology (IUT) and final-year students at Lycée Notre Dame de Bellegarde in Neuville-sur-Saône.
- Site visit and analysis by chemical engineer students from Lycée Jean Perrin.
- Site visit by teachers during the “Professeurs en Entreprise” (“Teachers in Companies”) operation in partnership with the CGénial Foundation.
- Presentation of the site's professions at the “Mondial des Métiers” (World Skills Competition), Lyon.
- Inviting the town councils of Genay and Neuville-sur-Saône to institutional dinners.
- Open house: presentation of professions and products to the families of employees.
The Genay site celebrates its 50th anniversary
All of Genay's employees gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their factory for a convivial moment.
It was also an opportunity to remember the path taken by the site, which opened in December 1971 as a local additives plant for the paper industry. Today being the Arkema’s core expertise Center in Rheology and Specialty Additive, the extended reach of the activity across the world includes five industrial plants and four R&D and application centers.
“Fifty years of continuous growth is an extraordinary achievement. Throughout this time, the Additive business has expanded significantly and currently has many new technology innovations and market opportunities in sustainable development,” said Laurent Peyronneau, Global President Coating Additives. “We thank everyone who has been part of this journey to establish our Additive business as a global leader in the market.”
Under the provisions of decree No. 2019–15 of January 8, 2019, aimed, in particular, at eliminating the differences in compensation between men and women, the Arkema site of Genay, with more than 240 employees, achieved a result of 85 out of 100 for the reference year 2023.