Evonik Hosts PUR Conference at its Production Site in Essen, Germany

ESSEN -- Recently the FSK presented the topic "Polyurethane - yesterday - today - tomorrow". An important intention of this conference was to celebrate two jubilees at once. First, the industrial union FSK celebrated 50 years since its foundation. The union began with members in ten countries on four continents. The FSK also celebrated the 75th anniversary of the invention of Polyurethanes by Otto Bayer in 1937. Over 170 people joined the conference in order to take a deeper look into the history of Polyurethane, to follow up the extraordinary development over the last seven decades and to discuss the promising, upcoming future.

Dr. Tammo Boinowitz, General Manager of the Business Line Comfort & Insulation, addressed the attendees to open the conference. He followed this with a mutual presentation held together with Dr. W. Schloz, CEO of the FSK, with the topic "75 years of Polyurethane - a PURe success story", in order to review the history of Polyurethanes.

In addition to technical highlights and market trend speeches concerning Polyurethanes, the capability to be innovative and its importance for companies was discussed. Dr. Bernard Schleich, Head of Corporate Foresight at Evonik, emphasized the need for companies to deal with the future today and how this future is affecting current projects and thinking.

"Corporations do have, besides monetary goals, a big responsibility to society and need to set a good example", Dr. Thomas Jostmann, Head of Corporate Environment and Responsibility, said within his presentation entitled, "Responsible Care in the Chemical Industry - just an empty phrase?"

"The Feedback of the conference participants was consistently positive. The well-balanced mix between highly-technical and marketing presentations, combined with current and future Innovations for the subject Polyurethane, paired with the choice of venue and the whole organization, fully matched to the importance of this anniversary conference," Dr. W. Schloz, CEO of FSK said. "We are looking forward to the next conference hosted by Evonik."

The Business Line Comfort & Insulation as part of the Business Unit Consumer Specialties has been a leading supplier in the Polyurethane flexible and rigid foam industry for more than 50 years.

The industrial union "FSK" consists of raw material companies, machinery suppliers, system-house / self-formulators and especially converters who deal with Polyurethane, Polypropylene, Polyethylene, natural rubber foams, melamine resin - foams, PVC - foam, etc.

About Evonik

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company form the heart of Evoniks corporate strategy. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2011 more than 33,000 employees generated sales of around ?4.5 billion and an operating profit (EBITDA) of about ?.8 billion.

Forward looking statements

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