Page 97 - Innovation Delaware 2019

INNOVATION BY SECTOR
As chemical industry diversifies, potential for innovation grows
DBY MICHAEL BRADLEY
ora Cheatham has a pretty simple explanation for what Delaware’s chemistry sector was like pre-2000.
“It used to be just DuPont,” says Cheatham, the operations manager for the Delaware Sustainable
Chemistry Alliance.
Not long after the turn of the 21st century, the chemical giant
was joined by other large players, like Hercules, ICI and Rohm & Haas in a collection of large companies that dominated the state’s chemicals industry.
But over the ensuing decade-plus, things have changed drastically, to the point where breakups and buyouts have created a much different collection.
“We have gone from an industry filled with companies that were focused on commodities but weren’t hugely profitable to one that contains firms more like those in Silicon Valley that are looking for higher profits,” says Bryan Tracy, co-founder and CEO of Newark-based White Dog Labs. The company develops microbiome-driven solutions that aim to increase food sustainability and improve the quality of human health and animal nutrition, while also helping to minimize emissions that contribute to climate change.
It is part of a landscape that has undergone a profound shakeup this century and has produced a climate with significant potential.
BIG PLAYERS STILL REMAIN
Shakeups notwithstanding, giants remain across the landscape — like DowDuPont, which is the world’s largest chemical company in terms of sales. At the same time, its Specialty Products Division is producing cutting-edge research into the human microbiome.
Solenis, which has been formed from remnants of Hercules and Ashland, has 30 different manufacturing locations worldwide and in late January merged with BASF’s wet-end paper and water chemicals business. The company’s recent innovations include
a new process to recycle starch that aims to make paper more sustainable.
Chemours is the world’s largest producer of titanium dioxide (TiO2), which makes paints shine brighter and also makes for more durable automotive and aerospace coatings.
W.L. Gore in Newark continues to provide products created from polymers and is one of the largest privately-held companies in the country. Gore is also at the forefront of efforts to improve smartphone and laptop insulation.
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