The BASF Corp. (Florham Park, New Jersey; www.basf.com) site in Wyandotte, Mich. has created and produced a hand sanitizer, known as HandClasp, with the first 1,000 gallons in the U.S. donated to the Henry Ford Health System. The sanitizing product will help meet the increased demands needed to safely combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the company’s ‘Helping Hands’ campaign in Germany, BASF teams worldwide are supporting the fight against COVID-19 by producing and donating hand sanitizers to hospitals, healthcare facilities and other institutions. In the U.S., disinfectants are also produced at the BASF site in Washington, New Jersey . The company has also donated masks to pandemic response measures. BASF is among many companies applying their manufacturing capabilities to the fight against COVID-19, including ExxonMobil, PPG, Johnson Matthey, Lanxess and many more.
BASF’s Wyandotte site
The Wyandotte facility is home to one of BASF’s largest Research & Development Centers and manufacturing sites in North America with more than 1,200 employees. BASF does not regularly produce hand sanitizer at the Wyandotte location, however the facility received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to temporarily produce a safe and high-quality sanitizing product.
The facility has produced over 8,000 gallons of hand sanitizer being distributed to the Henry Ford Health System, and other health care systems in Michigan, Texas, Louisiana, Mexico and Canada, as well as other BASF locations in the United States.
“When we learned of the supply shortage of disinfectants for health care systems and hospitals, our technical experts in Wyandotte displayed amazing resourcefulness and collaboration to develop and produce a beneficial antimicrobial product within a few days,” said Greg Pflum, Vice President and General Manager of BASF’s Midwest Hub. “Because of the diligent efforts of our Wyandotte team, BASF will help alleviate the critical shortage of disinfectant agent for front-line health care workers fighting COVID-19 in our communities.”