Grenzach-Wyhlen (dpa/lsw) – After seven years, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has completed the renovation of a former waste site in Grenzach-Wyhlen (Lörrach district). 239 million euros were invested in this. The area is now “chemical-free”, said Roche Pharma AG on Friday. “We don’t want to leave any legacy burdens behind for future generations,” said CEO Hagen Pfundner.
The Roche site, with an area the size of around two football pitches, is part of the so-called Kesslergrube in Grenzach-Wyhlen – the former landfill is considered a particularly large contaminated site project nationwide. Up until 1976, building rubble, household waste and waste from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries were dumped in the former gravel pits. The chemical company BASF is responsible for another part of the Kesslergrube, as the company reported on its website.
The restructuring at Roche started in September 2015. 360,000 tons of contaminated soil were removed and later burned – mostly in the Netherlands, but also in Germany and Belgium, as a spokesman reported.
The area was covered for the work. According to the company, it is not yet clear how the renovated site will be used in the future. The Freiburg District President Bärbel Schäfer said that the pharmaceutical company ensured transparency during the renovation and thus contributed to the successful completion of the project.
Roche had increased its sales in Germany by almost 22 percent to 9.5 billion euros last year. There are locations in Mannheim, Grenzach-Wyhlen and in Penzberg in Upper Bavaria. Around 17,500 people are employed altogether.
