SOLUTIA WELCOMES 10,000TH SCHOOL VISITOR TO SITE

Solutia UK has welcomed the 10,000th pupil to visit its site in Newport since it began hosting educational trips for local schools some 16 years ago.

Victoria Reed, aged 8, was one of 24 Year 3 youngsters from Maindee Primary School aged between seven and eight who made the visit, and was presented with a special cake to mark the milestone visit and share with her classmates.

Solutia UK takes some 400 school pupils every year around its 324-acre site at Nash, showing them how it makes a range of chemicals which end up in items in everyday use around their homes.

These include products as diverse as car windscreen safety glass, tyres, paints, floor coverings, varnishes and washing powders, as well as water treatment products and heat transfer fluids.

Like all the other schools, the Maindee Primary School children were introduced to the plant by the hard-working Dai, a cartoon character created by employee Ken Mitchell to show all the various jobs which need to happen in the process of producing chemicals.

Solutia’s Janet Roberts, who co-ordinates some 15 visits each year, says they have been extremely popular for many years, and have been an excellent introduction for youngsters to the importance of chemicals in everyday life.

“If you drive a car, get involved in DIY at home, or have anything to do with your family’s laundry, there’s a fair chance that you have a connection with Solutia’s chemical plant in Newport,” she said.

“That’s why we encourage school pupils to come here and see how chemicals are made safely day in, day out.

“The most regular visits we have are from schools in Newport such as Maindee Primary School, Malpas Court School, St Joseph's Primary and St Julian’s Junior, but we also have regular visits from schools further afield like Libanus Primary School, who travel from Blackwood.”

Solutia UK employs 160 people in Newport in a wide range of roles – from engineering specialists, maintenance teams and laboratory staff, through to people working in admin, IT, finance and human resources.

Part of a worldwide group headquartered in St Louis, USA and employing some 5,000 people, Solutia UK turns over more than £101m, about 7% of the company’s global sales.

Every year, the company manufactures 120,000 tonnes of chemicals at Newport which are dispatched to over 1,000 customers, many of them worldwide. About 60 per cent of everything made on site is exported to around 90 countries across the globe.