BASF SE’s (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) Personal Care has started the production of hand sanitizers at different production sites in Europe. The products are being provided free of charge to hospitals, care facilities and other institutions in regions surrounding production plants. The company wants to help overcome the current bottleneck for hand sanitizer that resulted from significantly increased demand.
The German production site of BASF Personal Care in Düsseldorf has already produced and donated 13,000 liters of the urgently needed product and will deliver further 23,000 liters to a central collection point in the city. From there it will be distributed by the authorities to local medical institutions. Similar programs are underway at other European sites in Spain, France and Italy.
“We know that the supply situation for suitable disinfectants is very tight in Europe. By using our production assets and filling lines to offer disinfectants to hospitals, we are helping fight the current coronavirus pandemic”, says Xavier Susterac, Senior Vice President Personal Care Europe. “Our priority at BASF is now to protect people, both inside and outside the company.”
BASF produces some of the raw materials that can be used to manufacture disinfectants, other necessary materials are purchased externally. They are normally used within the company’s value-adding chain to produce ingredients for the personal care and home care markets. The company has now reallocated some of the acquired raw materials, in particular isopropanol, to the production of hand sanitizer.
With this action, BASF Personal Care follows in the footsteps of the ‘Helping Hands’ campaign, launched by the parent company in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF SE is producing hand sanitizer and donating it to healthcare facilities in the Rhein-Neckar metropolitan region. Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis the company has activated an extensive package of measures to slow the spread of the virus and protect people. Measures are ranging from the implementation of telecommuting or the adaptation of production shifts to increased hygiene.