Royal DSM (Heerlen / The Netherlands; www.dsm.com) has opened a new R&D centre for high-performance materials in Sittard-Geleen / The Netherlands. The centre, on the Brightlands Chemelot Campus, is part of the EUR 100m investment that DSM announced in May 2012 – see Plasteurope.com of 28.05.2012.

DSM said the facility will be an important base for its research and marketing activities, as well as being the most important research centre worldwide for its engineering plastics business. It added that the location on the campus also offers opportunities for open innovation because of the proximity of other start-up and established companies as well as research and education institutes.

Roelof Westerbeek, president of DSM Engineering Plastics, said that DSM is creating optimal synergies by combining R&D, and marketing and sales activities, under one roof. “The combination enables us to break new ground and to reduce the time to market for DSM innovations even further,” he said.

Dimitri de Vreeze, member of Royal DSM’s managing board, added: “This investment is perfectly aligned with our strategy for growth in materials sciences through innovative solutions for a more sustainable future for people today and for generations to come.”