One of the best defenses we have against COVID-19 is the use of facial coverings. For frontline workers and healthcare professionals there is critical demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), especially facemasks and face shields. To help fill the gap and protect these hardworking men and women on the front lines, LyondellBasell sites in Europe collaborated with key partners to facilitate cross-industry initiatives, donating facemasks and face shields in France, Germany, U.K. and Belgium.
LyondellBasell sites in France, including Berre, Fos, Oyonnax, and Givet, donated 5,000 facemasks and face shields to local hospitals and COVID-19 centers in Martigues, Rognac, Velaux and Berre, supporting doctors, paramedics, firemen, nurses, the Red Cross and nursing homes.
“During this unprecedented health crisis, receiving LyondellBasell’s donation of facemasks is extremely appreciated,” said Margot Vanrentergeem, deputy manager ORPEA, an assisted living facility near Berre, France. “I would like to thank LyondellBasell for its generosity on behalf of our entire team.”
LyondellBasell’s charitable giving in France did not stop at PPE donations. The company helped to enable the production of 60,000 free facial coverings by contributing 1 ton of its product, Purell (PL EP370S), a key component in making facemasks. The Purell donation went to a collective initiative coordinated by the Federation of Plastics and Composites (Fédération de la Plasturgie et des Composites) for urgent facemasks production. The company also donated €20,000 to the regional hospitals though the Public Assistance – Hospitals of Marseille, located near several LyondellBasell sites in France.
“We send a huge thanks to LyondellBasell in the name of the professionals at the University Hospitals of Marseille,” said Caroline Peragut, communication, culture and philanthropy manager at Hospitals of Marseille. The donation is such a great gesture by the company.”
Additionally, in Germany LyondellBasell provided 100 3D printed headbands, created with its healthcare polymer resins Purell (EP274P) and Purell (RP270G), free of charge to the University Hospital Freiburg / University Medical Center Freiburg. The company’s generosity in Germany extended beyond the headbands with a donation of 30,000 surgical facemasks to the crisis incident control centers in Rhein-Erft-Kreis county.
Recognizing that we’re all in this together, LyondellBasell sites all over the world are lending a helping hand in many ways in the fight against COVID-19. The company donated lab coats to staff at a local retirement home in Bornem, Belgium to relax the urgent demand in the area. At its Carrington, UK site, LyondellBasell contributed 350 kg of polypropylene to make thousands of face visors for the National Health Service’s (NHS) emergency use after an employee got word from a family member that the organization was in need.
“I heard from my niece that recently the local teachers were making face visors for NHS hospital staff and the school production line had run out of polypropylene sheets, so I reached out to ask whether the site can help,” said Jimmy Cleary, term contractor at the Carrington site. This set in motion a collaboration between LyondellBasell, Alma Products, a LyondellBasell customer, and Ashton-upon-Mersey school, which resulted in the production of 10,000 face visors.
Communities everywhere are expected to battle COVID-19 well into 2021. LyondellBasell is committed to continuing to help fight against the virus side-by-side with the people and organizations in areas where it maintains operations. From PPE donations to food contributions to volunteerism to the products it makes, LyondellBasell is making a real difference where it’s needed most.
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