Editing Imperial Chemical Industries (section)

== Operations ==

ICI operated a number of chemical sites around the world.
In the UK, the main plants were as follows:
* [[Billingham Manufacturing Plant]] (in [[Stockton-on-Tees]]) and [[Wilton, Redcar and Cleveland|Wilton]] (in present-day [[Redcar and Cleveland]]): ICI used the Billingham site to manufacture [[fertiliser]]s in the 1920s and went on to produce plastics at Billingham in 1934. During [[World War II]] it manufactured [[Synthonia]], a [[Organic compound#Synthetic compounds|synthetic]] [[ammonia]] for explosives.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nationonfilm/topics/chemical-industry/background.shtml |title=The white heat of new technology |publisher=BBC |date=14 September 1949 |access-date=27 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113175929/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nationonfilm/topics/chemical-industry/background.shtml |archive-date=13 November 2012  }}</ref> The Wilton R&D site was built to support the plastics division with R&D and chemical engineering facilities. The ICI Billingham Division was split into the ICI Heavy Organic Chemicals Division and ICI Agricultural Division in the 1960s. From 1971 to 1988 ICI Physics and Radioisotopes Section (later known as Tracerco) operated a small [[General Atomics]] [[TRIGA]] Mark I [[nuclear reactor]] at its Billingham factory for the production of radioisotopes used in the manufacture of flow and level instruments, among other products.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisstockton.co.uk/billingham/History_of_Billingham.asp |title=History of Billingham |publisher=Thisisstockton.co.uk |access-date=27 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229124955/http://www.thisisstockton.co.uk/billingham/History_of_Billingham.asp |archive-date=29 February 2012  }}</ref> The Agricultural Division was noted for the development of the world's largest bioreactor at the time – the 1.5 million litre Pruteen Reactor, used for the cultivation of animal feed. Engineering models of components and the builder's model of the complete plant are now in the collection of the [[Science Museum, London|Science Museum]] [https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co61257/models-of-the-ici-pruteen-plant-at-billingham-and-model-of-the-site-model-representations-pruteen-manufacturing-plants-proteins London] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119145302/https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co61257/models-of-the-ici-pruteen-plant-at-billingham-and-model-of-the-site-model-representations-pruteen-manufacturing-plants-proteins |date=19 November 2021 }}. Pruteen had limited economic success but was followed by the much more successful development of [[Quorn]].
* [[Blackley]] (in [[Manchester]]) and Huddersfield: ICI used the sites to manufacture [[dyestuff]]s. The dye business, known as the ICI Dyestuffs Division in the 1960s, went through several reorganisations. Huddersfield was tied in with Wilton with the production of nitrobenzene and nitrotoluene. Huddersfield also produced insecticides. (Syngenta still manufacture insecticides at Huddersfield). Proxel [[Biocide]] was made at Huddersfield from the 80s onwards. Additives also made at Huddersield.  Huddersfield became Zeneca then AstraZeneca, in 2004 Huddersfield was Syngenta, Avecia, Arch and Lubrizol running what were all ICI plants at one time.    Through the years it was combined with other [[speciality chemicals]] businesses and became Organics Division. Then became ICI Colours and Fine Chemicals and then ICI Specialties.<ref>{{cite web |work=ColorantsHistory.Org |url=http://www.colorantshistory.org/BritishDyestuffs.html |title=British Dyestuffs Corporation and ICI |date=17 March 2006 |access-date=27 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229171829/http://www.colorantshistory.org/BritishDyestuffs.html |archive-date=29 February 2012  }}</ref>
* [[Buxton]] (in [[Derbyshire]]): ICI Lime Division was formed in 1927 with the acquisition of [[Buxton lime industry|Buxton Lime Firms]]. Quarrying started at [[Tunstead Quarry|Tunstead]] in 1929 and it became the largest limestone quarry in the UK. In 1992 ICI sold its Lime Division to [[Anglo American plc|Anglo American]] as part of its UK [[Tarmac Group|Tarmac]] operation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History • Buxton Lime |url=https://buxtonlime.com/about/history/ |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=Buxton Lime |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=BLF Buxton Lime Firms |url=http://www.derbyshireheritage.co.uk/Menu/Archaeology/Limekilns/Buxton-Lime-Firms.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404174506/https://www.derbyshireheritage.co.uk/Menu/Archaeology/Limekilns/Buxton-Lime-Firms.php |archive-date=4 April 2023 |access-date=22 February 2020 |website=www.derbyshireheritage.co.uk}}</ref>
* [[Runcorn]] (in [[Cheshire]]): ICI operated a number of separate sites within the Runcorn area, including the Castner-Kellner site, where ICI manufactured [[chlorine]] and [[sodium hydroxide]] (caustic soda).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/248210.stm |title=ICI cuts 1,000 jobs |work=BBC News |date=4 January 1999 |access-date=27 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021202193837/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/248210.stm |archive-date=2 December 2002  }}</ref> Adjacent to the Castner-Kellner site was Rocksavage works, where a variety of chemicals based on chlorine products were manufactured, including Chloromethanes, Arklone dry cleaning fluid, Trichloethylene degreasing fluid and the Arcton range of CFCs. Also on that site were PVC manufacture and HF (Hydrogen fluoride) manufacture. At Runcorn Heath Research Laboratories, technical support, research and development for Mond Division products was carried out, and the support sections included chemical plan design and engineering sections.  Just to the north of Runcorn, on an island between the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey could be found the Wigg Works, which had been erected originally for producing poison gas in wartime. In Widnes could also be found several factories producing weedkillers and other products. For many years it was known as ICI Mond Division but later became part of the ICI Chemicals and Polymers Division. The Runcorn site was also responsible for the development of the HiGEE and Spinning Disc Reactor concepts. These were originated by Professor Colin Ramshaw and led to the concept of [[Micro process engineering|Process Intensification]]; research into these novel technologies is now being pursued by the Process Intensification Group at [[Newcastle University]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ccdcindia.com/index2.php?act=service&sub=1 |title=Process Intensification |publisher=Ccdcindia.com |access-date=27 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220011843/http://www.ccdcindia.com/index2.php?act=service&sub=1 |archive-date=20 February 2012  }}</ref>
* Winnington and Wallerscote (in [[Northwich]], Cheshire): It was here that ICI manufactured [[sodium carbonate]] (soda ash) and its various by-products such as [[sodium bicarbonate]] (bicarbonate of soda), and [[sodium sesquicarbonate]]. The Winnington site, built in 1873 by the entrepreneurs [[John Tomlinson Brunner]] and [[Ludwig Mond]], was also the base for the former company Brunner, Mond & Co. Ltd. and, after the merger which created ICI, the powerful and influential Alkali Division. It was at the [[Winnington Laboratory|laboratories]] on this site that [[polythene]] was discovered by accident in 1933 during experiments into high pressure reactions.<ref>Dick 1973, {{page needed|date=February 2025}}.</ref> Wallerscote was built in 1926, its construction delayed by the First World War, and became one of the largest factories devoted to a single product (soda ash) in the world.<ref>{{Cite book |title=ICI Magazine, ''Kynoch Press'' |year=1963}}</ref> However, the decreasing importance of the soda ash trade to ICI in favour of newer products such as paints and plastics, meant that in 1984 the Wallerscote site was closed, and thereafter mostly demolished. The laboratory where polythene was discovered was sold off and the building became home to a variety of businesses including a go-kart track and paintballing, and the Winnington Works were divested to the newly formed company, [[Brunner Mond]], during 1991. It was again sold in 2006, to Tata (an Indian-based company) and in 2011 was rebranded as Tata Chemicals Europe. The Winnington plant closed in February 2014, with the last shift on 2 February bringing to a close 140 years of soda ash production in this Northwich site.{{citation needed |date=April 2014}}
* [[Ardeer, Scotland|Ardeer]] (in [[Stevenston]], Ayrshire): ICI Nobel used the site to manufacture [[dynamite]] and other explosives and [[nitrocellulose]]-based products. For a time, the site also produced nylon and [[nitric acid]]. [[Nobel Enterprises]] was sold in 2002 to [[Inabata & Co., Ltd.|Inabata]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-977112/Japanese-firm-buys-ICI-s.html |title=Japanese firm buys ICI's nitrocellulose business |work=Chemical Week |date=22 January 2003}}</ref>
*[[Penrhyndeudraeth]] ([[Gwynedd]], North Wales): [[Gwaith Powdwr|Cooke's Works]], part of ICI's Nobel's Explosives Company division produced [[nitroglycerin]]e-based explosives up until the site's closure in 1995. 
* [[Slough]] (in [[Berkshire]]): Headquarters of ICI Paints Division.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/article-11517-review-sparks-fears-for-future-of-ici-paints-site/ |title=Review sparks fears for future of ICI Paints site |work=Maidenhead Advertiser |access-date=27 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722114056/http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/article-11517-review-sparks-fears-for-future-of-ici-paints-site/ |archive-date=22 July 2011 }}</ref>
* Stowmarket : Plant Manufacturing White, and off white Paints
* Prudhoe - Plant Manufacturing Hammerite Paints
* Birmingham: Plant Manufacturing Packaging Coatings for food and beverage cans
* [[Welwyn Garden City]] (in [[Hertfordshire]]): Headquarters of ICI Plastics Division until the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geton-thenet.co.uk/index.php/Hertfordshire-Towns/Welwyn-Garden-City-a-town-in-Hertfordshire.html |title=Welwyn Garden City, a town in Hertfordshire |publisher=Geton-thenet.co.uk |access-date=27 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226205628/http://geton-thenet.co.uk/index.php/Hertfordshire-Towns/Welwyn-Garden-City-a-town-in-Hertfordshire.html |archive-date=26 February 2012  }}</ref>

=== Argentina ===
An ICI subsidiary called Duperial operated in Argentine from 1928 to 1995, when it was renamed ICI.

Established in the city of [[San Lorenzo, Santa Fe]],
it operates an integrated production site with commercial offices in [[Buenos Aires]]. Since 2009 it has made [[sulphuric acid]] with ISO certification under the company name Akzo Nobel Functional Chemicals S.A.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

It also had an operation at [[Palmira, Mendoza]],  for its Wine Chemicals Division, that manufactured [[tartaric acid]], wine alcohol and [[grapeseed oil]] from natural raw material coming from the wine industry in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan. This operation held 10% world market share for tartaric acid. It was sold in 2008 and currently operates as Derivados Vínicos S.A. (DERVINSA).<ref>{{Cite web|title=DERVINSA – DERIVADOS VÍNICOS S.A.|url=http://dervinsa.com.ar/english/about-us.php|access-date=19 October 2020|website=dervinsa.com.ar|archive-date=19 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019164251/http://dervinsa.com.ar/english/about-us.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Australia ===
The subsidiary ICI Australia Ltd established the [[Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary|Dry Creek Saltfields]] at [[Dry Creek, South Australia|Dry Creek]] north of [[Adelaide]], South Australia, in 1940, with an associated [[soda ash]] plant at nearby [[Osborne, South Australia|Osborne]]. In 1989, these operations were sold to [[Penrice Soda Products]].<ref>{{citation |last=Hough |first=J.K. |url=http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/93803/mj50_salt_production.pdf |title=Salt production in South Australia |work=MESA Journal |volume=50 |date=September 2008 |access-date=8 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924073548/http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/93803/mj50_salt_production.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 }}</ref>

An ICI plant was built at [[Botany Bay]] in [[New South Wales]] in the 1940s and was part of the [[Orica]] demerger in 1997.<ref name=SMH>{{cite web |issn=0312-6315 |first1=Jano |last1=Gibson |first2=John |last2=Huxley |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Botany-pollution-fears-grow/2005/03/31/1111862533886.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |title=Botany pollution fears grow |date=1 April 2005 |access-date=24 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106140837/http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Botany-pollution-fears-grow/2005/03/31/1111862533886.html |archive-date=6 November 2012 }}</ref> This plant once manufactured paints, plastics and industrial chemicals such as [[solvent]]s. It had been detirmined to be the source of the [[Botany Bay Groundwater Plume]] contamination of a local [[aquifer]].<ref name=SMH/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/tarabrown/259409/a-deadly-legacy |work=[[60 minutes]] |title=Transcript for A deadly legacy |date=2006 |access-date=24 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324115502/http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/tarabrown/259409/a-deadly-legacy |archive-date=24 March 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Bangladesh ===
In 1968 a subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was established in then-[[East Pakistan]].
After [[Bangladesh]] gained independence in 1971, the company was incorporated on 24 January 1973<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bangladeshdir.com/business-finance/companies/aci-limited/ |title=ACI Limited |access-date=1 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101064037/http://www.bangladeshdir.com/business-finance/companies/aci-limited/ |archive-date=1 January 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> as ICI Bangladesh Manufacturers Limited and also as Public Limited Company. The company divested its investment in Bangladesh and was renamed as [[ACI Limited|Advanced Chemical Industries Limited]] (ACI Limited) on 5 May 1992. The company sold its insect control, air care and toilet care brands to [[S. C. Johnson & Son|SC Johnson & Son]] in 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/business/aci-sells-household-brands-us-firm-tk-25054cr-79282|title=ACI sells household brands to US firm for Tk 250.54cr|date=26 April 2015|newspaper=The Daily Star|access-date=29 October 2016|archive-date=30 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030000448/http://www.thedailystar.net/business/aci-sells-household-brands-us-firm-tk-25054cr-79282|url-status=live}}</ref> Currently Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited is one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh with a multinational heritage operating across the country.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/business/commercial-papers-set-become-hot-cakes-aci-73995|title=Commercial papers set to become hot cakes: ACI|date=27 March 2015|newspaper=The Daily Star|access-date=29 October 2016|archive-date=30 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030000707/http://www.thedailystar.net/business/commercial-papers-set-become-hot-cakes-aci-73995|url-status=live}}</ref> The company operates through three reporting divisions: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Brands and Agribusiness.<ref>{{cite news |title=A night for corporate stars |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2012/thedailystar_dhl_business_awards/02/DHL%20Business%20Award.htm |work=Bangladesh Business Awards |publisher=The Daily Star |access-date=2 January 2013 |archive-date=22 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822233642/http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2012/thedailystar_dhl_business_awards/02/DHL%20Business%20Award.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Sri Lanka ===
ICI maintained offices in Colombo importing and supplying chemicals for manufacturers in Ceylon. In 1964, following import restrictions that allowed only locally owned subsidiaries of multinational companies to gain import licenses, [[CIC Holdings|Chemical Industries (Colombo) Limited]] was formed as an ICI subsidiary with 49% ICI ownership and remaining held public.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sirimanna |first1=Bandula |title=CIC looks for new name |url=https://www.sundaytimes.lk/090802/FinancialTimes/ft300.html |access-date=20 January 2022 |work=[[Daily FT]] |publisher=[[Wijeya Newspapers]] |date=2 August 2009}}</ref>

=== New Zealand ===
The subsidiary ICI New Zealand provided substantial quantities of chemical products – including swimming pool chemicals, commercial healthcare products, herbicides and pesticides for use within [[New Zealand]] and the neighbouring [[Pacific Islands]].

A [[Structure fire|fire]] at the ICI New Zealand store in [[Mount Wellington, New Zealand|Mount Wellington]], [[Auckland]], on 21 December 1984, killed an ICI employee and caused major health concerns. Over 200 firefighters were exposed to toxic smoke and effluents during the firefighting efforts. Six firefighters retired for medical reasons as a result of the fire. This incident was a major event in the history of the [[New Zealand Fire Service]] and subject to a formal investigation, led by future [[Chief Justice of New Zealand|Chief Justice]] [[Sian Elias]]. The fire was a trigger for major reforms of the service; direct consequences included improved protective clothing for firefighters, a standard safety protocol for major incidents, the introduction of dedicated fireground safety officers, and changes to occupational health regulations.<ref name=NZFIRE>{{cite web |first1=Sian |last1=Elias |first2=D R |last2=Bandaranayake |first3=I R |last3=Edwards |first4=W I |last4=Glass |url=http://www.moh.govt.nz/notebook/nbbooks.nsf/0/6783D47AF1CAD2D14C2565D7000DE2F7/$file/The+health+consequences+of+the+ICI+fire.pdf |work=New Zealand Ministry of Health |title=The Health Consequences of the ICI Fire |date=1 January 1990 |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-date=21 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021151615/http://www.moh.govt.nz/notebook/nbbooks.nsf/0/6783D47AF1CAD2D14C2565D7000DE2F7/$file/The+health+consequences+of+the+ICI+fire.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url = https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/144078339703300308?icid=int.sj-abstract.citing-articles.429 |title = Accounting for the ICI fire: partial connections between lay and expert knowledge |first1 = Kevin |last1 = Dew |first2 = Mike |last2 = Lloyd |volume = 33 |issue = 3 |journal = The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology |date = 1997 |pages = 394–402|doi = 10.1177/144078339703300308 }}</ref>