Vinyl Industry Provides Coronavirus Relief

Vinyl has always played a large role in the medical and healthcare industries, but now with COVID-19 (coronavirus) we are seeing this continue at even higher levels of support. Vinyl Institute (VI) members and companies from across the vinyl value chain are finding additional and innovative ways they can provide all sorts of relief efforts to assist in preventing the spread of coronavirus. For example, they are donating supplies, expediting the creation and delivery of critical products as well as manufacturing products they may not usually create. The VI is proud to represent its members and an industry that is working hard to support local, national, and global communities by providing assistance in a variety of response efforts.

Below are recent stories of how the vinyl industry has responded in the wake of coronavirus to provide relief efforts. And we have included examples of how our products are being used to innovative health care solutions. If your company has a story of helping your communities, please share it with us so we can help showcase your efforts.

For a downloadable PDF of some of the stories below, click here.

Chemours donates more than 10,000 N-95 masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) to local cities. (Twitter)

Dow Chemical donates $2 million for immediate support of impacts caused by coronavirus and $1 million to build community resilience in the recovery phase. (Dow Newsroom)

Dow Chemical expands hand sanitizer production at two U.S. plants, including Auburn, Mich., and South Charleston, W.V. (MLive)

Dow Chemical donates 100 gallons of hand sanitizer to West Virginia fire department. (WSAZ)

Dow Chemical shares designs for simple face shield for public download. (Dow Newsroom)

Duro-Last switches operations from making PVC roofing membranes to PVC PPE gowns. (Plastics News)

Eastman Chemical donates enough glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate sheet to make 10,000 face shields. (Chemical & Engineering News)

Eastman Chemical donates materials to produce protective lenses and face shields for medical personnel. (Tyler Morning Telegraph)

ExxonMobil helps to meet the demand for products like hand sanitizer, alcohol wipes and disinfectants by working at maximum capacity to manufacture isopropyl alcohol (IPA) at their Baton Rouge chemical plant, the largest IPA producer in the world. (EnergyFactor)

ExxonMobil announces it will reimburse the cost of fuel to Baton Rouge emergency response vehicles and provide gas gift cards to healthcare workers at Our Lady of the Lake, Baton Rouge General and Ochsner Health in Louisiana. (WBRZ)

Fey Industries shifts production from promotional advertising items to vinyl PPE. (Pipestone Country Star)

Formosa Plastics Point Comfort plant donates more than 3,000 gallons of bleach for disinfecting public spaces to local counties. (VI)

GEON Performance Solutions launches Project Collaboration to assist small to mid-sized companies address manufacturing issues preventing them from producing products that would assist with COVID-19 relief. (VI)

GEON Performance Solutions recently donated 60,000 face shields to hospitals, first responders, schools, and businesses as part of #ProjectCollaboration. (Plastics News)

GLI Pool Products switches their operations from producing vinyl pool liners to making fabric masks. (The Business Journal)

i2M retools operations to produce anti-microbial vinyl gowns. (VI)

Hospitals around the country use PVC fittings from LASCO Fittings to create an apparatus that aids in the protection of healthcare workers and patients. (LinkedIn)

Louisiana State University manufactures heavy duty, reusable gowns from billboard vinyl donated by Lamar Advertising and Circle Graphics. (WBRZ)

Lubrizol Corporation expedites plans for additional capacity to create a polymer used in the gel base for hand sanitizers. (Chemical & Engineering News)

Lubrizol Corporation pledges $2 million to support COVID-19 efforts globally and partners to solve PPE and critical supply shortages. (Lubrizol)

Mannington Teams and Consolidated Carpet team up to donate vinyl flooring to SUNY College at Old Westbury to transform the university’s gymnasium into a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers temporary healthcare facility. (Floor Daily)

Mississippi Polymers creates gowns to be used as PPE. (Twitter)

KYDEX Thermoplastics were provided to Ford to produce 50,000 ventilators for GE Healthcare. (PAlive!)

Tarkett streamlines sales process allowing FEMA contractors and other emergency response organizations to procure essential flooring products to be used in government and health care facilities. (Floor Daily)

Teknor Apex expedites production and delivery of PPE needed for medical professionals. (Plastics News)

UF Health begins to build its own intubation boxes out of PVC that allow healthcare workers to treat patients with serious cases of coronavirus while limiting the healthcare worker’s exposure. (First Coast News)

Vestis Systems produces vinyl protective barriers for local businesses. (The Spokesman Review)

WavePads makes more than 5,000 face shields from vinyl for health care workers and delivery drivers. (The Herald-News)

Westlake Chemical donates N-95 masks to local hospitals. (WPSD Local)