25 Years on the Road for Better Roads

Asphalt and especially asphalt with VIATOP can be considered to be his world. Horst Erdlen, global head of business unit “Functional additives for a modern infrastructure” (abbr. FAV) at J. RETTENMAIER & SÖHNE / Germany, was very proud to celebrate his 25 years of activities of marketing high quality asphalt and VIATOP on April 1^st, 2020. 

Durable – Sustainable – Environmentally Friendly since 1995 the focus of Horst Erdlen’s  daily work. The well-known ARBOCEL and VIATOP products made JRS the world’s market leaders for functional fibers in the asphalt industry. In a personal letter instead of a celebration of his anniversary Horst Erdlen expressed special thanks to his team for their support and to the Rettenmaier families and Mr. Richard Salzer for their trust all over the years: “Without you we couldn’t have reached the top!” Horst’s activities brought the German concept of SMA to many experts around the globe. Today SMA is one of the preferred asphalt pavements in Europe, North America, Central and South America, Asia, Middle East, Africa and of course down under in Australia and New Zealand. 

One of the most prestigious awards in the European asphalt industry by EAPA – the Asphalt Advocate of the Year – was introduced in 2017. The board of directors decided to present the very first award to Horst Erdlen for his outstanding work in our industry. 

All over the world Horst Erdlen is well known and well respected in the asphalt industry. His presentations and lectures are always enlightening and entertaining. Several universities invited Horst for lectures to their students. Another task Horst has is the promotion of the asphalt industry to young people to inspire them to join our industry. 

We would like to thank Horst for his commitment and all his activities which we do hope will continue for many more years.