Plastics and Chemistry: Strong Pillars of the Region’s Economy

Brandenburg has become an important location for the European chemicals and plastics industry. With around 620 companies and 12,900 employees, the plastics and chemicals industry is a major strength in the Brandenburg industry sector.
The Brandenburg plastics and chemicals industry made up around 12% of the state’s commercial economy in 2015.

With a sales increase of 1.5% over 2014 to 3.3 billion euros and a nationwide presence, it is one of the above-average growth drivers in the manufacturing sector in the State of Brandenburg and is therefore a stabilising factor in the state.*
One in eight employees is employed in this sector, and one in seven euros is generated in the chemicals and plastics industry.

Hardly any other industry in Brandenburg is as closely intertwined with other industries. As the supplier of numerous starting products in particular, the chemicals and plastics industry plays a key role in the innovative development of industries like medical technology/pharmaceuticals, energy technology, IT and communications technology, optics, vehicle construction and many more besides.

Brandenburg products, e.g. fibres, films, tyres, components for household appliances and wind turbines as well as polyurethane base products, plant protection products, water-based paints and engineering plastics ensure the capital region is well-known far beyond the state borders.

Large chemical parks with major companies in Schwedt/Oder, Premnitz, Guben and Schwarzheide have helped shape the cluster’s profile. The chemical firms that operate facilities in Brandenburg include European leaders such as PCK (mineral oil processing, Schwedt/Oder), BASF (Schwarzheide), Atotech (Neuruppin), Trevira (synthetic fibres, Guben) and Märkische Faser (Premnitz).

Rubber and plastic goods are produced predominantly in SMEs and, with this covering a wide range of plastics processing. Around 6,900 employees work in a total of 73 companies (each with over 20 employees).
The cluster core includes eight large companies employing over 300 employees per firm. (Source: Statistisches Landesamt Berlin-Brandenburg, key figures 2015)

The technology transfer agencies at the region’s universities offer direct access to the latest R&D results. The WFBB registers the companies’ need for innovation and offers optimum support in the development of innovative ideas: from arranging contacts with relevant experts and applying for funding to the administrative management of your project, thus providing highly efficient and demand-oriented technology transfer services.

Please visit www.innovatives-brandenburg.com for more information.

Employer and Economic Association for Plastics Processing Industry in Berlin and Brandenburg

The German capital region features a unique density of scientific institutions in the plastics and chemistry sector. Several small and medium-sized enterprises utilise these resources and sponsor research and development projects. In addition to universities, there are numerous non-university research facilities. These include the Max Planck Society institutes, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Helmholtz Association, and Leibniz Association. These facilities are active across the board - from basic research to the development of useful products. There are various partnership options between these facilities and enterprises, which are typically adjusted to the addressed problem.

Universities and Colleges

Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin
Main areas of teaching and research: pharmaceutical and chemical engineering, biotechnology, packaging technology, mechanical engineering, process and environmental engineering, environment and sustainability

Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg
Main areas of teaching and research: chemical reaction engineering, physical chemistry and analytics, polymer materials, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry, plastics-and-rubber processing, mechanical engineering, tools and devices in plastics engineering, processing base polymers into high-performance plastics

Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences
Main areas of teaching and research: automation engineering, energy and environmental technology, manufacturing and production engineering, plant engineering and construction, laser technology, mechatronics, measurement and sensor technology, microtechnology, material testing

Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (Applied Sciences)
Main areas of teaching and research: forest and the environment, landscape use and nature conservation, sustainable economics

Merseburg University of Applied Sciences
Main areas of teaching and research: chemical and environmental engineering, plastics engineering, mechanical engineering/mechatronics, physical engineering, M.Eng. degree in chemical and environmental engineering

Humboldt University Berlin
Main areas of teaching and research: functionally structured materials and catalysis

Wildau Technical University of Applied Sciences
Main areas of teaching and research: thermoplastics processing (PET, PBT), development of composite materials, polymer alloys and new materials made of thermoplastics and duromers, recycling, process and device design, environmental analytics, mechanical engineering / process engineering

Technical University Berlin
Main areas of teaching and research: designing with plastics, plastics in medical engineering, materials testing, plastics recycling, plastics processing, rheology, injection moulding, extruding, tensile, bending, and impact testing, light microscopy, determination of ignition residues according to DIN, inorganic and analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, physical and theoretical chemistry, environmental chemistry, environmental process engineering, water purification

Dresden Technical University
Main areas of teaching and research: mechanical engineering, material sciences, process engineering and natural technology, chemical engineering, mechatronics

University of Potsdam
Main areas of research: applied polymer chemistry, inorganic chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, didactics of chemistry, colloid chemistry, development of biomaterials, natural materials chemistry, organic chemistry, organic synthesis chemistry, physical chemistry, polymer chemistry, structural analytics, supra-molecular chemistry, theoretical chemistry

Non-university Research Facilities

BAM - Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (Berlin)
Main areas of research: materials research, material engineering, safety engineering, test engineering

German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ)
Dynamics of the lithosphere, geomechanics and rheology, chemistry and physics of geomaterials, near-surface geochemistry

Fraunhofer Research Institution for Polymeric Materials and Composites (PYCO)
Main areas of research: high-temperature resistant, fracture tough duromers for all desired applications; environmentally tolerable reactive resins; polymers with adjustable mechanical damping and stiffness; NLO polymers with high relaxation stability; snap-cure resins; polymers with rated break points; flexible polymer substrates for display applications having good barrier properties against water and oxygen

Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP)
Main areas of research: optimised extraction, characterisation, and processing of polymers from renewable raw materials; polytronics/electronics with plastics, light sensitive/emitting polymer systems, polymeric microparticles for packaging additives; water soluble polymers for environmental engineering and product finishing

Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max Planck Society
Main areas of research: heterogeneous catalysis, dynamics of elementary processes at surfaces and in solid structures

Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy (HZB)
Main areas of research: macromolecular crystallography, colloid chemistry, interfaces

Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht GmbH - Institute for Biomaterials Research, Teltow
Main areas of research: development of innovative polymer-based biomaterials for medical applications (various plastics, active implants for minimally invasive surgery, adsorber materials for filter systems or other detoxification procedures of body fluids outside the body), separation and environmental technologies using membranes

Institute for Thin Film Technology and Microsensoric Technologies (IDM)
Main areas of research: development of special polymers, synthesis of special chemicals,
development of materials for microsensoric and biosensoric applications
structure characterisation (scanning electron microscopy, IR spectroscopy, UV VIS spectroscopy, contact angle testing, polarisation microscopy, HPLC/GPC fluorescence spectroscopy), recycling of plastics, micro and nano structuring, development of conductive polymers and electrochromic films

Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interface
Main areas of research: polymer films, membranes, organic and inorganic nano structures, microcapsules, nano and micro reactors, polymer dispersions, polyelectrolytes, colloid structures and analysis, biomimetic materials and biotemplates, interfaces and membranes, charged polymers and colloids, liquid interfaces, macromolecules on solid surfaces, surface tension measurements using X-ray diffraction and fluorescence spectroscopy