10-04-2024
The Michelin Bassens site celebrates its 60th anniversary under the banner of innovation
The Bassens petrochemical site has been developing unique expertise since 1964, by producing and developing ground-breaking and increasingly effective elastomers.
This unique, future-oriented site recruits from the Bordeaux area, while providing ongoing training and skills development for its employees.
The anniversary focuses on innovation, harnessed in the pursuit of the Michelin Group’s environmental goals.
The Michelin Bassens petrochemical site, located about 6 miles from Bordeaux, is celebrating its 60th anniversary today, under the banner of continual innovation, in the presence of the plant’s employees and a number of Michelin Group representatives, including Pierre-Louis Dubourdeau, Executive Committee member and the Group’s Industrial Director, Xavier Pesche, Director of Industrial Materials Operations, and numerous regional and departmental officials.
The site, with its 460 employees, plays a strategic role by producing several tens of thousands of metric tons of synthetic rubber per year. It supplies the Michelin Group’s tire production sites, predominantly in Europe (90%), as well as in the United States, Brazil, India, China and Thailand.
The site also works on innovative projects that will be industrialized in the coming years, thereby guaranteeing a promising future for the factory and its employees. Located in the heart of the Bassens port-industrial area since 1964, the site is around six miles away from Bordeaux city center, on the right bank of the Garonne River. It spans more than 60 hectares, and is easily recognizable thanks to its distinctive chimney with its vertical Michelin wording.
As a unique site in Michelin’s industrial universe, Bassens occupies a strategic position within the Group. Its production of ground-breaking synthetic elastomers is strategic for manufacturing tires that offer very high-performance levels, reduced rolling resistance and an increased service life, as well as for developing new elastomers, which are the fruit of research and which will be used to make the tires of tomorrow.
An industrial undertaking, geared to innovation, and addressing the Group’s environmental concerns
The Bassens site’s workforce boasts petrochemical and chemical engineering expertise, to support the Michelin Group’s projects worldwide in the fields of natural rubber, synthetic rubber and composites.
Launched on the site in 2018, a pilot production plant for bio-based butadiene (BioButterfly) was inaugurated in January 2024. Synthetic rubber is currently produced using petroleum-based products, whose main raw material is butadiene.
The BioButterfly project aims to develop sustainable alternatives to this raw material in order to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of tire design.
Today, the site is also working, in the mid-and long-term, on the development of new, innovative elastomers.
These projects are consistent with Michelin’s objective to produce tires containing 100% recycled, renewable and bio-based materials by 2050.
Environmental challenges are also central concerns for the Bassens site, which, just like the Group, is reducing its environmental footprint each year. The site’s Seveso ranking requires regular investment to guarantee unfailing industrial safety standards – one of the Group’s priorities.
Proactive human commitment
The Bassens plant has witnessed a significant recruitment drive over the last three years, with 160 hires; in an effort to increase staff numbers, support new projects and develop its Engineering and Methods Division. These new hires illustrate the continued appeal of the site in an increasingly competitive context.
The site offers 2-year training courses to individuals without any experience in the industrial sector. These courses are certified by partners, as well as Michelin instructors and coaches. The Bassens site relies on a number of entities, including manufacturing activities, R&D divisions and a design and engineering office working overseas to develop projects within the Group. These entities help to support and develop employees’ skills by offering career paths with opportunities for advancement.
The Bassens plant strives to maintain constructive and mature social dialogue in its relations with social partners, through a culture of negotiation, as well as through ongoing sharing of the site’s projects with all its employees.
About Michelin:
Michelin is building a world-leading manufacturer of life-changing composites and experiences. Pioneering engineered materials for more than 130 years, Michelin is uniquely positioned to make decisive contributions to human progress and to a more sustainable world. Drawing on its deep know-how in polymer composites, Michelin is constantly innovating to manufacture high-quality tires and components for critical applications in demanding fields as varied as mobility, construction, aeronautics, low-carbon energies, and healthcare. The care placed in its products and deep customer knowledge inspire Michelin to offer the finest experiences. This spans from providing data- and AI-based connected solutions for professional fleets to recommending outstanding restaurants and hotels curated by the MICHELIN Guide.