Axalta Announces PPE, Sanitizer Donations

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

Liquid and powder coatings supplier Axalta announced last week that it will be providing protective equipment and hand sanitizer to communities around the world in an effort to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Axalta is committed to worldwide efforts to support the safety, health, and well-being of hospital professionals, first responders, and our employees," said Robert Bryant, Axalta's Chief Executive Officer. "Our entire global Axalta family is pulling together to use our collective energy and resources to help fight coronavirus in the communities where we live, work, and raise our families.

"We are putting our manufacturing might and supply inventories to work in order to offer products that will make a difference where they are needed most—whether that be in hospital rooms, on ambulances, or on the manufacturing floor. We will continue to look for opportunities to leverage our capabilities to the fullest and remain steadfast in our goal of serving our communities and the true heroes on the front lines of this fight."

ktsimage / Getty Images

Liquid and powder coatings supplier Axalta announced last week that it will be providing protective equipment and hand sanitizer to communities around the world in an effort to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

ktsimage / Getty Images

Liquid and powder coatings supplier Axalta announced last week that it will be providing protective equipment and hand sanitizer to communities around the world in an effort to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company’s efforts include:

• Production of thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer - Axalta's plants in Front Royal, Virginia; Mount Clemens, Michigan; Tlalnepantla, Mexico; Guarulhos, Brazil; and Wuppertal, Germany, are shifting their manufacturing to produce hand sanitizer that meets the standards of the World Health Organization. This will then be donated to local hospitals and first responders, as well as used at Axalta plants to ensure the safety of employees and their families.
• Sending PPE to hospitals globally - Axalta is donating personal protective equipment such as facemasks (including its N-95 inventory), coveralls, closed hoods and protective sleeves to hospitals throughout the world. These donations have thus far occurred in the United States, France, Belgium and Germany.
• Providing seat covers to medical professionals - Axalta is donating more than 5,000 seat covers, typically used in body shops, to local hospitals that are low on protective supplies. Medical professionals use the seat covers in their own cars to reduce the risk of transmitting coronavirus when they are visiting those affected by COVID-19.

More Donations

Other companies in the coatings industry have committed to various donations as well, including chemical company BASF and global coatings manufacturer PPG.

Earlier this month, BASF has announced that, as part of its “Helping Hands” campaign, it is donating more than 100 million protective masks to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

BASF, which is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany), announced that it is donating 100 million masks to the Federal Republic of Germany and another 1 million to Rhineland-Palatinate.

The mask donation is one of several in the “Helping Hands” campaign, which also includes the production of sanitizer.

BASF has created new capacities at sites such as Ludwigshafen, Düsseldorf and Münster-Hiltrup and is able to produce up to 1 million liters of hand sanitizer with the raw materials purchased.

According to the company, around 150,000 liters have already been distributed free of charge to hospitals and other healthcare facilities in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region and around other BASF sites.

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Just before that, PPG, along with the PPG Foundation, announced that they plan to "contribute more than $1.5 million to organizations supporting immediate community relief efforts and emerging recovery needs amid the impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.”

Recipients of those funds include:

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• Feeding America: $150,000 to help food banks respond to the increased need;
• International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: $375,000 to support efforts in communities where PPG operates in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions;
• Chinese Red Cross Foundation: $168,000 (donated in February) to support recovery efforts in response to the crisis;
• Emerging community relief efforts: $520,000 to support local organizations serving those most at risk in PPG’s communities across the globe; and
• Pittsburgh-area crisis support: $275,000 to support impacted organizations and people in Pittsburgh, PPG’s global headquarters community.

Previously, The company announced late last month that it was donating 80,000 masks to hospitals in Pittsburgh, New York, Cleveland, the Detroit area and Huntsville, Alabama, in support of COVID-19 relief.

The first 20,000 N-95 masks were distributed to Pittsburgh’s UPMC and Allegheny Health Network hospitals.

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View all of PaintSquare Daily News' coverage on COVID-19, here.