As Asia-Pacific’s manufacturing landscape becomes more sophisticated, purification and separation technologies are taking on a more strategic role — helping industries improve process efficiency, recover valuable resources, optimise water use and strengthen supply resilience.
Ecolab’s investment in its Quzhou facility in China reflects this changing market. By bringing manufacturing and research, development and engineering (RD&E) capabilities closer together, the company is seeking to accelerate the journey from innovation to commercial production while responding more quickly to evolving customer requirements across the region.
In an interaction with BioSpectrum Asia, Jeanine Hurry, Sr Global Marketing Director, Purification Technologies, Ecolab, discusses the strategic importance of Asia-Pacific and China, the thinking behind the Quzhou investment, and where she sees the biggest opportunities for purification and separation technologies towards 2030.
Which industries and applications will be the primary beneficiaries of the resins manufactured in Quzhou?
The primary beneficiaries will be customers operating in industries where purification and separation technologies are critical to process performance, product quality, and operational reliability. Across many sectors, manufacturers are under increasing pressure to improve efficiency, maximize resource utilization, and maintain consistent production in a more complex operating environment. Advanced purification technologies help address those challenges by supporting the separation, recovery, and purification processes that are often fundamental to operational succ, Directess.
Rather than focusing on specific applications, what is most important is the role these technologies play in helping customers achieve greater certainty in their operations. Whether customers are looking to recover valuable resources, increase process efficiency, strengthen business continuity, or improve overall performance, purification technologies are becoming increasingly important to achieving those objectives.
The Quzhou facility strengthens our ability to support customers across a broad range of industrial, environmental, and infrastructure-related applications and expands manufacturing capability within Ecolab's global purification technologies network. Ultimately, the value of the investment is not tied to a single industry. It is about providing customers with the purification solutions, technical expertise, and reliable supply they need to grow and operate with confidence.
How significant is Asia-Pacific - and China specifically - to Ecolab's growth strategy, and what demand trends are you seeing for advanced purification technologies across the region?
Asia-Pacific is one of the most dynamic manufacturing regions in the world and an important part of Ecolab's long-term growth strategy. The region continues to attract investment across advanced manufacturing, industrial infrastructure and technologies that require increasingly sophisticated purification solutions. China remains a particularly important market because of the scale of its manufacturing base, the pace of innovation and the growing expectations customers have around quality, efficiency and operational performance.
The investment in Quzhou reflects our commitment to supporting customers where they operate and ensuring they have access to the products, technical expertise and support they need. It is also part of a broader strategy to strengthen Ecolab's global manufacturing and innovation network across North America, Europe and Asia, ensuring customers benefit from both local responsiveness and global capabilities.
From a market perspective, we are seeing demand for advanced purification technologies being driven by several long-term trends. Customers are placing greater emphasis on water stewardship, resource recovery, process optimization and environmental performance. At the same time, manufacturers are looking for ways to improve productivity, reduce operational risk and build more resilient supply chains. These priorities are creating increased demand for advanced separation, purification and recovery technologies that can help customers operate more efficiently while using fewer resources.
We are also seeing customers ask more sophisticated questions than they did several years ago. Supply continuity, qualification timelines, operational resilience and business continuity planning have become increasingly important considerations. Customers want confidence that their purification processes are supported not only by high-quality products but also by dependable manufacturing, technical expertise and a partner capable of supporting them through changing operational conditions.
As manufacturing activity across Asia becomes more technologically advanced, customers are increasingly seeking partners that can combine local technical support with global innovation capabilities. That is one of the reasons investments such as Quzhou are important. They allow us to work more closely alongside customers while leveraging the strength of Ecolab's worldwide network
With manufacturing and RD&E co-located at Quzhou, how do you expect this model to shorten product-development timelines, accelerate innovation and improve responsiveness to customers?
One of the most exciting aspects of Quzhou is the close connection between manufacturing and RD&E. Bringing those capabilities together creates a more direct path from concept to commercial production and allows teams to collaborate more closely as solutions move through development, scale-up, and supply.
Traditionally, research, testing, and manufacturing activities may be distributed across different locations. While those models can be effective, co-locating these functions creates opportunities for faster decision-making and closer collaboration between researchers, engineers, application specialists, and manufacturing teams.
Equally important is the ability to bring customer insight directly into the innovation process. Our teams work closely with customers every day and understand the practical challenges they face in their operations. When those insights can be shared quickly across development and manufacturing teams, it helps ensure innovation is driven by real-world needs and not just laboratory outcomes.
The model also improves responsiveness. When customer requirements change, or when technical challenges arise, closer collaboration between development and manufacturing teams can lead to faster troubleshooting and more effective problem-solving. Ultimately, we view Quzhou as an investment in innovation readiness. By bringing together production, engineering, application expertise, and RD&E capabilities, we've created a platform that can help accelerate innovation while supporting customers as they scale and grow.
Looking ahead to 2030, where does Ecolab see the biggest opportunities in purification and separation technologies, particularly as customers seek to reduce water consumption, recover valuable resources and build more resilient supply chains?
Looking ahead to 2030, we believe the biggest opportunities will come from helping customers achieve more with the resources they already have available. Across many industries, there is growing pressure to improve efficiency, maximize resource utilization, and maintain reliable operations in an increasingly complex global environment. Purification and separation technologies will play an important role in helping organizations achieve those objectives.
One area of significant opportunity is resource recovery and process efficiency. Manufacturers are looking for ways to improve yields, reduce waste streams, and recover materials that can be reused or repurposed within their operations. Advanced purification technologies can help customers unlock greater value from the resources, raw materials, and inputs that are critical to their business.
We also expect supply resilience and operational continuity to remain major priorities. Customers increasingly evaluate suppliers not only on product performance but also on their ability to deliver reliable manufacturing, technical expertise, and continuity of supply. As a result, investments in manufacturing networks, innovation infrastructure, and technical support capabilities will become even more important.
Another significant opportunity lies in helping customers navigate increasingly complex purification challenges through deeper collaboration and technical partnership. As manufacturing processes advance, customers are facing greater pressure to improve performance, manage risk, qualify new processes, and respond to changing operational requirements. In that environment, success will depend on more than simply supplying a purification technology. Customers will increasingly look for strategic partners who can help troubleshoot challenges, share application expertise, and work alongside them to optimize processes over the long term. We believe the future of purification will be defined by closer collaboration between manufacturers and purification experts, combining technology, technical knowledge, and real-world operational insight to solve problems faster and help customers achieve their business objectives with greater confidence.
Ultimately, the greatest opportunity is helping customers operate with greater certainty in an increasingly uncertain world. That means combining technology, expertise, and manufacturing strength in ways that help customers improve performance, strengthen resilience, and prepare for whatever challenges come next.
