Beckers Opens New Sustainable Innovation Center

New Sustainable Innovation Centre from Beckers Beckers has announced the construction of a new Sustainable Innovation Centre in the United Kingdom to help unlock the potential of more sustainable coil coating technologies such as ultraviolet/electron beam (UV/EB) curing. The two-storey, 300 m² innovation centre will double the capacity of the Long-Term Development (LTD) Research & Development team working to advance the company's future coil coating capabilities. The SEK 20.5 million facility, to be built adjacent to the existing LTD site in Liverpool with its foundation laid in March 2023, is expected to be completed by year-end. Gavin Bown, Chief Technology Officer at Beckers, said: "Currently we don't have the space to house all the equipment we need while developing a number of new coating technologies, so the new innovation centre will be crucial in advancing our global R&D capabilities. The innovation centre will enable us to develop groundbreaking technologies that are both more sustainable and have the potential to reduce costs for our customers." The centre will employ approximately 15 people and will feature large "plug and play" areas to easily combine different processes and technologies to discover synergies and intersection points. The building will be purpose-built and designed to allow for future expansion if required. James Smith, Global R&D Director for LTD, explained: "The innovation centre will provide us with the bandwidth to transition to future technologies, designed with a focus on next-generation more sustainable coatings based on renewable and circular economy concepts." The objective is for the centre to become a pioneer in sustainable innovation, guiding our sustainable coil coating R&D. The innovation centre has been designed to develop both application technologies and more sustainable coating formulations. Bown added: "All new product developments at Beckers must be net sustainable, which means all our R&D and innovation activities are focused on sustainability. Our new Sustainable Innovation Centre will provide us with unique opportunities to explore intersection points of different sustainable platforms and potentially combine them to unlock new-generation product technologies and coil coatings." The innovation centre will also serve as a live showcase for the latest developments in more sustainable coating solutions. The walls and roof of the building will use a facade coating system consisting of a partial bio-resin coating, developed by Beckers for improved material sustainability. The coating applied to the roof will also use Beckry®Therm technology to improve thermal control in the building to reduce the energy required for air conditioning and extend the service life of the coating system. The coatings used for the building will also be sourced and manufactured as sustainably as possible.