DuPont Announces Multimillion Euro Transformation of Athlone Production Facility

DuPont Water Solutions, a DuPont de Nemours, Inc business and global leader in water and wastewater treatment technologies, today announced a major transformation of the OxyMem™ Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) at its manufacturing facility in Athlone, Ireland. The investment in the facilities and employees at the Athlone site will help meet the increasing global demand for MABR.

OxyMem™ was the first company to commercialize MABR technology, which provides unique and differentiated performance for secondary wastewater treatment. DuPont acquired OxyMem™ in 2019, expanding its extensive portfolio of industry-leading water solutions that help produce, purify, and extract some of the world’s most commercially important products.

This multimillion-euro investment includes additional training for staff based in Athlone. This project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

“As we look to a post-pandemic recovery, ensuring balanced regional enterprise development is key and the announcement today of DuPont’s multimillion-euro investment at their site in Athlone, Ireland is indicative of their continued success in Athlone, and indeed a testament to the Midlands region as a great place to do business,” said Robert Troy, Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation. “This investment will have a transformative impact for the site and the staff, who will all benefit from upskilling. I was delighted to have the opportunity to visit the facility and see first-hand the excellent work being undertaken there. I wish the team the very best in this new chapter.”

“This investment will allow OxyMem™ to develop more efficient and more reliable production technology as well as improve our product design to meet the continuously increasing demand by the market” said Andreas Gorenflo, General Manager of OxyMem™. “It is fundamentally important, and it will help us grow the company to meet the increasing global demand for MABR.”

Barry Heffernan OxyMem™ Technology Manager added, “OxyMem’s origins and success can be traced back to over 20 years. We began our journey in 2013 as a spin-out from the UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering. This investment will allow us to continue to scale our smart production capabilities, digitization and automation, which will ultimately increase our local footprint both in R&D facilities and headcount.”

Denis Curran, Head of Regions, Property and Enterprise Development at IDA Ireland said, “This is a very welcome announcement by DuPont and underlines the company’s commitment to Athlone and the Midlands region. Transformation of client operations is a key focus area for IDA. This multi-million-euro investment will enable OxyMem™ to position itself for future growth opportunities. It is also strongly aligned with IDA Ireland’s strategy of winning investments in regional locations. I wish DuPont and the OxyMem™ team every success as it scales its operations in Athlone.”