Founded in 1985, Chimie Recherche Environnement Evolution specialises in the creation, manufacture and packaging of chemical formulations for the construction, automotive and industrial sectors. For more than 10 years, it has chosen to evolve towards productions that are more respectful of users and the environment.
For Martial Letay, President of CREE, the transition to an environmentally friendly production cannot be achieved overnight: “It is a slow but necessary evolution. Some products derived from conventional chemistry or oil do not yet have equivalents derived from plant chemistry or biotechnology. Or else they are still too expensive to be competitive. As were some of the “green” products we commonly use today several years ago. ”
The company, under the impetus of its president, began a shift towards production that is increasingly respectful of the environment and of users, about ten years ago “we became aware of the need to make the transition to a greener chemistry when we joined the IAR cluster. “Even if at the time the motivation was also economic, “we had to stand out from the increasingly tough competition, which was based solely on price, by offering our customers innovations that would in turn enable them to stand out from their competitors.”
Biobased products: new opportunities
This shift has also opened up new opportunities for the company. “In 2019, we filed a patent for a cement-free concrete, based on vegetable and mineral materials, which does not require water. The user only needs to add sand to the powder and activating liquid that we supply. With calibrated sand, our concrete has the same mechanical properties as standard concrete. But the advantage of our product lies in the addition of all types of sand, even sea sand, and the absence of water. ”
Intended to be used for quick repairs or to meet urgent needs during natural disasters, for example, the concrete produced by CREE will soon be on the market. “It is a revolutionary product that we have high hopes for. We couldn’t have created it if we hadn’t turned to biobased materials. “