SurTec celebrates 30 years of innovative and environmentally friendly surface technology

From management buy-out to global specialist for surface technology: SurTec attaches importance to environmental responsibility despite strong economic growth. The company pioneered the development of environmentally compatible solutions for products and processes.

When SurTec was founded 30 years ago as a management buy-out from the Unilever Group, the vision of a specialist for all areas of surface treatment was still quite new. Today, SurTec is an internationally active, leading supplier of chemicals for industrial parts cleaning, metal pretreatment, and functional and decorative electroplating. From the very beginning, SurTec has been aware of its special responsibility towards the environment and is pioneering the development of environmentally compatible solutions for products and processes in its global Technical Centers.

"In the last 30 years we have moved a lot", explains Dr. Karsten Grünke, CEO of SurTec "During this time our experience and product portfolio as well as the company itself have grown steadily. The fact that we are now a preferred supplier of chemical specialties for surface treatment by numerous customers is due to the fact that we are one of only a few companies that develop and produce tailor-made chemical specialties and processes and deliver them directly to customers worldwide. With the acquisition of Italtecno in 2021 and the recently acquired OmniTechnik, we are broadening our offering and continuously expanding our position in the market."

An important milestone for SurTec was the development of a thick film passivation, patented in 1996, which, after its introduction as SurTec 680, heralded the phase-out of the use of Crom(VI) in electroplating. The innovative and harmless process quickly became the industry standard for thick film passivation for zinc and zinc alloys. Further developments followed, allowing chromium(VI) to be replaced by less harmful substances. For example, chromium(III) passivation for aluminum - SurTec 650 - is more topical today than ever before, as it is ideally suited to modern applications, for example in 5G technology for antennas and masts, and in e-mobility for the construction of battery housings. Also still highly topical is the chromium(VI)-free SurTec 883 XT, which in decorative electroplating leads to equivalent or better results in terms of appearance and performance than the previously used processes.

SurTec's decades of experience are continuously incorporated into the further development of environmentally compatible and high-performance processes for surface treatment. SurTec's processes are continuously optimized and adapted to the requirements of the market and to the specifications of customers worldwide.

Started 30 years ago with 35 employees, SurTec is now an internationally active company with more than 400 employees worldwide, which has around 800 products and formulations. A visible sign of SurTec's environmentally conscious actions is the company's then headquarters in Zwingenberg, which in 2000 was the first factory in Europe to be built according to the passive house standard. High-quality structural thermal insulation, thermal glazing, ventilation with heat recovery, tightness and absence of thermal bridges in the façade, and replacement of the air-conditioning systems with passive cooling significantly improved the energy balance and at the same time reduced operating costs.

Although the head office was moved to Bensheim after SurTec International GmbH was founded, the passive house in Zwingenberg is still the company's largest location worldwide. Since 2010, the company has been part of Freudenberg Chemical Specialities GmbH, Munich, a company of the Freudenberg Group, Weinheim. (OM-1/23)