INEOS is now manufacturing hand sanitiser on an industrial scale to help with the critical shortage across Europe. It has built new plants in Newton Aycliffe in the UK, Herne in Germany, Etain and Lavera in France as well as the USA. At full rates, each of them will be churning out one million bottles a month.
“INEOS is a company with enormous resources and manufacturing skills,” said Chairman sir Jim Ratcliffe. “If we can find other ways to help in the coronavirus battle, we are absolutely committed to playing our part.”
The hand sanitisers will be provided free to NHS and hospitals to help fight COVID-19.
The public will be able to buy the INEOS-branded product from pharmacies and supermarkets.
INEOS, which built each of the plants in under 10 days, is Europe’s largest producer of the two core ingredients needed for hospital grade hand sanitiser. Its sites in Grangemouth, Scotland, and in northern Germany and Southern France normally produce almost one million tonnes of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and ethanol every year. And has been diverting more production to the new hand sanitiser plants.
It is hoped these new plants – built in record time – will help to meet the shortfall.
INEOS intends to produce both standard and the increasingly popular ‘pocket-sized’ hand sanitisers.
COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease and is most often spread when people, with unwashed hands, touch their own faces, especially their mouth, nose and eyes. Hand sanitisers can stop this.