Wacker Chemie AG is a German multinational chemical company which was founded in 1914 by Alexander Wacker. The company is controlled by the Wacker family holding more than 50 percent of the shares. The corporation is operating more than 25 production sites in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, Asia, and the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. The product range includes silicone rubbers, polymer products like

ethylene vinyl acetate Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), also known as poly (ethylene-vinyl acetate) (PEVA), is the copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetate. The weight percent of vinyl acetate usually varies from 10 to 40%, with the remainder being ethylene. There are thr ...

redispersible polymer powder, chemical materials, polysilicon and wafers for the semiconductor industry. The company sells its products in more than 100 countries. As of 31 December 2015, 16,972 employees have been with Wacker. Corporate annual sales in 2015 were about 5,3 billion Euros, up 10% compared to 2014. The biggest production site of Wacker Chemie is the Burghausen plant in the south-east of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, with about 10,000 employees. The US headquarters was previously located in Adrian, Michigan. In 2022 Wacker opened a new US headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Business activity

Wacker Chemie AG - divided into 5 divisions - derives most of its products from two main raw materials:

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...

and ethylene. Siltronic supplies the semi-conductor market with

wafers A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...

. Wacker Polysilicon produces hyper-pure electronic-grade

polysilicon Polycrystalline silicon, or multicrystalline silicon, also called polysilicon, poly-Si, or mc-Si, is a high purity, polycrystalline form of silicon, used as a raw material by the solar photovoltaic and electronics industry. Polysilicon is produce ...

for use in electronic and solar wafers. Wacker Silicones serves end markets like construction, automobile, paints, textiles, and paper. Wacker Polymers starting with ethylene serves mainly the construction industry with redispersible powders and several other industries with dispersions. Wacker Biosolutions focuses on using bio-technological processes to serve its customers. Wacker Polymers, a division of Wacker Chemie AG has appointed Peter Summo (48) as its next president, effective 1 October. Summo previously headed the engineering silicones business unit at Wacker Silicones. He is succeeding Arno von der Eltz, who is retiring on this date.

Wacker Chemie in the United States

Tennessee polysilicon operations

In early 2009 Wacker announced plans to construct a new solar-grade polysilicon production facility in Charleston, a small city in

Bradley County, Tennessee Bradley County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,620, making it the thirteenth most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Cleveland. It is na ...

. Groundbreaking occurred on April 8, 2011, and the plant became operational in April 2016, costing approximately US$2.5 billion and making it the largest-ever single private investment in the state of Tennessee. In June 2017, a US$150 million secondary expansion was announced that would allow the plant to manufacture pyrogenic silica. This expansion was completed in October 2019, adding 50 new jobs to the plant.

Safety issues and incidents

*In October 2012, two subcontract workers fell to their death resulting in a temporary suspension of construction activities. The subcontracting company was later found to be at fault. *A Tennessee Occupational and Safety Administration (TOSHA) inspection conducted in March 2016 resulted in a fine of US$3,500 for regulatory violations over the control of hazardous energy. *A second TOSHA inspection conducted in August 2016 resulted in a fine of US$4,000 for issues stemming from process safety and respiratory equipment. *On August 30, 2017, 5 workers were hospitalized with chemical burns following a discharge of

Silane Silane is an inorganic compound with chemical formula, . It is a colourless, pyrophoric, toxic gas with a sharp, repulsive smell, somewhat similar to that of acetic acid. Silane is of practical interest as a precursor to elemental silicon. Sila ...

gas within the plant. *On November 13, 2020, at approximately 10:15 am, five workers were injured in an incident described as an "industrial accident" involving a small release of

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...

and steam. One of the workers died from his injuries later that day.

2017 explosion and aftermath

On September 7, 2017, a massive explosion in the plant's hydrogen recovery unit resulted in the release of a steam cloud which could be seen for several miles, as well as the environmental release of low-concentration

. Due to initial concerns about the composition of the cloud, local officials closed a section of

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

between nearby

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and Calhoun, as well as nearby State Route 308 in Charleston. During the event, seven local residents, and a plant worker were transported to a local hospital with unspecified injuries. A firefighter and four sheriff's deputies were also treated for heat-related symptoms and later released. The following day, officials from TOSHA announced a temporary shutdown of the plant pending investigation. Five days later, an environmental sensor detected elevated levels of an unnamed substance prompting a shelter-in-place order for emergency workers involved in cleanup efforts within the facility. During the explosion event, local officials instructed residents to shelter indoors with their windows closed and HVAC systems turned off. Nearby residents complained of respiratory distress, as well as an odd taste in their mouths. This led to speculation in both local and social media that the cloud contained high-concentration hydrochloric acid, despite media reports to the contrary. For the week following the event, there was little-to-no communication from Wacker management or government officials, resulting in further speculation about hazardous chemicals being released into the environment. Wacker management later issued a full-page letter stating that no hazardous chemicals were released. One and a half weeks later, Bradley County Emergency Management Agency Director Troy Spence held a press-conference attempting to allay fears, and urging residents to sign up for the county's non-emergency text-messaging service.

Plastics manufacturing

At the end of 2007, Wacker took over vinyl acetate/ethylene operations from Air Products Polymers. Consequently, it took full ownership of the activities in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and

Calvert City, Kentucky Calvert City is a home rule-class city in Marshall County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,566 at the 2010 census. History Calvert City was named for Potilla Willis Calvert. He built his home, Oak Hill, in 1860 and around a deca ...

Headquarters

Wacker's US headquarters are located in

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the mai ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

- where Wacker Chemical Corporation is producing

Silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...

materials.

Wacker global

The regions which Wacker has distributors and sale offices are as below: * Middle East and Africa * Greater China * South Korea * North America * Russia and CIS * India * South America * Southeast Asia * Turkey * Europe * Japan

Wacker production sites

Wacker has many production sites across the world in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. There are directly 13,500 employees in these continents which work for Wacker productions network. Europe sites * Burghausen * Cologne * Halle * Holla * Jena * León * Nuenchritz * Pilsen * Stetten * Amsterdam America sites * Adrian * Calvert City * Charleston * Chino * Eddyville * Jandira * North Canton Asia sites * Jincheon * Kolkata * Nanjing * Shunde * Ulsan * Tsukuba * Zhangjiagang

References

External links

* {{Authority control Chemical companies of Germany German companies established in 1914 Chemical companies established in 1914 German brands IG Farben Manufacturing companies based in Munich Silicon wafer producers Multinational companies headquartered in Germany