Ineos revealed Tuesday that it has started producing one million hand sanitizers per month to help combat the coronavirus outbreak.
The news came after the company hit its 10-day target to build a hand sanitizer plant near Middlesbrough, UK. The plant, which started up at the weekend, is running three shifts around the clock, according to Ineos. A German sister plant is also in production and plans are being drawn up for a third plant in France, the company noted.
Hand to mouth contamination is one of the main ways that the coronavirus infects people and there is a critical shortage of hand sanitizers across the UK and Europe, Ineos stated.
“Now that production of the Ineos hand sanitizer has started, we are working on the fastest way to get them to where they need to be. I am confident that within a few days our sanitizer will start to be seen in hospitals, surgeries and people’s homes,” Jim Ratcliffe, the founder and chairman of Ineos, said in a company statement.
“I believe these hand sanitizers will play a key role in the fight against the coronavirus and will help protect our NHS front line staff who deserve all the help we can give them,” he added.
Ineos highlighted that it is the leading European producer of the two key raw materials needed for sanitizers – isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and ethanol. The company said it is already running these plants “flat out”.
Ineos, which has 22,000 employees, is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals and oil products. Earlier this month, the company announced a series of measures to protect employees following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
As of March 30, there have been 693,224 confirmed cases of the virus around the world, with 33,106 deaths, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization.
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