The site’s history spans back to 1904 when DuPont purchased the International Smokeless Powder & Chemical Company for explosives manufacturing.
In 1921 it was converted to manufacture cellulose nitrate base used in the motion picture industry. DuPont™ Duco®, a low viscosity, high nitrocellulose lacquer invented at Parlin, took over the automobile finishing market by the mid 1920’s. X-ray films throughout the world subsequently adopted the blue tint. Parlin’s fine-grain sound recording films, introduced in 1939, won DuPont an Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1943.
Another major DuPont innovation was DuPont™ Cronar® Polyester Film Base, developed at Parlin and introduced around the mid 50’s. DuPont licensed the technology to Kodak in 1956 when polyester base became the standard of the industry. Experimental production of a new photosensitive polymer printing plate began in 1957. DuPont™ Dycril® plates, primarily used in letterpress printing, were the world’s first photopolymer printing plates.
In 1966, DuPont accelerated the development of DuPont™ Riston® photo-resists at the Parlin site. Riston ® was commercialized at the DuPont Towanda plant in Pennsylvania, becoming one of the company’s most outstanding new products of the 70’s. DuPont™ Cromalin® pre-press proofing toners were developed and introduced in 1971. In 1975 a new flexographic photopolymer printing plate, DuPont™ Cyrel®, began production.
DuPont™ Teflon® industrial powder began production in 1980. In the mid-80’s production of polymers for the electronics industry and Teflon® housewares’ finishes added to the Parlin production base. By the mid-90’s the Cyrel® business needed to expand, building two new manufacturing lines and also converting additional equipment to a new pilot line. In the late 90’s, a joint venture between DuPont and Hitachi (known as HD Microsystems™) began the manufacture of materials for the microelectronics segments.
Today, the site houses a number of businesses and manufactures several major DuPont products including Cyrel®, Teflon®, DuPont™ Tedlar and DuPont™ Pyralux®. It’s home to HD Microsystems™ and houses two tenants – GE Energy Financial Services and Industrial Summit Technology.
The plant is a major contributor to the local economy providing quality jobs and significant financial benefits to area communities.
- More than $25 million in annual payroll
- More than $1.3 million in annual property taxes to the Borough of Sayreville
- More than $10 million annually invested in products and services
- More than $30 million dollars has been invested in new equipment and technology since the year 2000
