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Company history

1878  Founding of the Lithopone- und Permanentweißfabrik Schöningen AG.

1883  Dr. Rudolf Sachtleben becomes a partner in Sachtleben & Co. Lithopone Fabrik, in Schöningen. He replaces toxic white lead with Lithopone, the first permanent white pigment.

1892  Sachtleben & Co. Lithopone Fabrik relocates to Duisburg. The Rhine and the nearby Ruhr industrial region offer optimum locational advantages in terms of transport and of energy and water supplies.

1926  Foundation of Sachtleben AG für Bergbau und chemische Industrie. Capital stock twelve million marks, domicile: Cologne.

1946  Production restarts at Sachtleben after reconstruction following the damage suffered during the Second World War.

1959  Titanium dioxide conquers the world's white pigment market. Joint venture started by Sachtleben and DuPont de Nemours, of Wilmington, SC, USA.

1960  Planning and construction of the titanium dioxide and sulfuric acid plants.

1962  Sachtleben starts titanium dioxide production in Duisburg.

1972  Introduction of flue-gas desulfurization applying the Sulfacid process, with recovery of sulfuric acid, which is returned to the titanium dioxide production cycle.

1973  Strategic decision:
Sachtleben makes a commitment to the highly promising water-chemicals segment.

1980  The company begins feeding of surplus heat from the sulfuric acid production process into the regional transmitted-heat system, supplying some 20,000 households.

1989  Sachtleben commissions Europe's first waste-acid recovery plant, permitting discontinuation of dumping in the North Sea.

1991  Efficient waste-gas cleaning and flue-gas desulfurization systems in the titanium dioxide dissolving plant and the calcining facility reduce the SO2 content of emitted air by more than 97 % and cut dust emissions by more than 85%.

1996  Sachtleben sets up Guangzhou Huali Sachtleben Chemicals Co. Ltd. in Guangzhou, China, a Lithopone production joint venture.

1996  Broader product portfolio: The acquisition of EKOKEMI expands the product range in the field of water chemicals and guarantees perfect logistics and assuredness of supply.

1998  Start of a new expansion stage: Titanium dioxide capacity, 18,000 tonnes in 1962, now reaches more than 100,000 tonnes (2001).

1998  The Water Chemicals division continues to grow: Sachtleben further consolidates and expands its position as one of Central Europe's leading flocculant producers with the commissioning of Mitteldeutsche Wasserchemie (MIWAC).

2000  New production facility:
Innovative micro-rutile generations for the 21rst century.

2003  Sachtleben opens a representative office in Shanghai.

2004  Sachtleben becomes "a company of Rockwood Specialties Group Inc."

2008  Sachtleben Wasserchemie GmbH and Sachtleben Wasserchemie-MIWAC GmbH are grouped under Rockwood Clay-based Additives.

2008  Rockwood and Kemira Pigments close TiO₂ Joint Venture Sachtleben GmbH.