Luxembourg’s strong track record in plastics and materials can best be highlighted through three specific case studies:
Dupont de Nemours

American materials and services multinational Dupont de Nemours is present in more than 70 countries and this includes Luxembourg since the 1960s. The site in Luxembourg is an important business centre for the firm, employing more than 1,200 people and features major production units for polyester films, non-woven spunbondeds and elastomers. Products range from high-tech construction materials to medical packaging to industrial personal protection equipment. More, the plant is an important regional research and development (R&D) centre for the company.

Organic growth was the key for injection moulding company Luxpet. Founded in Luxembourg in 1998 to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET) performs for the beverage industry, it was acquired by the global plastics wrapping leader Plastipak in 2005. Four years later, Plastipak were so impressed by the opportunities on offer that they decided to base their European R&D centre in the south of Luxembourg as well as boosting their production and recycling capacity. Announcing the deal, Plastipak’s International Operations President said: “we are extremely satisfied with the choice of Luxembourg as the site for our European R&D centre which will allow us to exploit our developments in innovative technology.”

Euro Composites S.A. designs and produces composite parts and has used Luxembourg as its base into the rest of the world. After starting in the mid-1980s, the firm now has operations in Germany and the USA, offices in the UK and Spain and turnover approaching €90m. It provides parts, panels, materials, moulds and tools to sectors as varied as aviation, space, railway, defence, road transportation, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, and architecture. For example, Euro Composites products are used in the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A380 as well as on the International Space Station. Company founder, chairman and CEO Rolf-Mathias Alter has said: “Luxembourg is the ideal place to start a business.”