Sanitiser plant ‘may be built in 10 days’
BUSINESS: A factory producing one million bottles of hand sanitiser per month is to be up and running within 10 days near Middlesbrough.
Chemical firm INEOS announced it is to build a factory at Newton Aycliffe to produce one million bottles per month.
The bottles will be given to frontline NHS staff for free.
A FACTORY producing one million bottles of hand sanitiser per month is to be up and running within 10 days near Middlesbrough.
Chemical firm INEOS announced it is to build a factory at Newton Aycliffe to produce one million bottles per month.
The bottles will be given to frontline NHS staff for free and also supplied on a commercial basis to schools, places of work, pharmacies and supermarkets.
The Middlesbrough factory is currently an existing INEOS facility that will be repurposed and refitted to produce the sanitiser.
The country is currently facing a chronic shortage of sanitiser products owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
One of the major contagion pathways for the Covid-19 virus is hand to mouth, meaning that hand sanitisers are extremely important in combating its spread.
INEOS is Europe’s largest producer of the two key raw materials, isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and ethanol, that are needed for hospital grade hand sanitiser at its sites in Grangemouth, Scotland and in northern Germany.
The company said these plants were currently flat out and that it has been diverting more of this product to essential medical use.
However, capacity is so tight that it has decided to build two new factories to make hand sanitiser from them.
In total, it produces almost one million tonnes of these materials each year.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and chairman of INEOS, said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that hand to mouth infection is a significant cause of coronavirus contagion and INEOS is Europe’s largest manufacturer of the core ingredient of hand sanitiser.
“We will build two factories in the UK and Germany in 10 days to produce very substantial supplies.”
He added: “INEOS is a company with enormous resources and manufacturing skills. If we can find other ways to help in the coronavirus battle, we are absolutely committed to playing our part.”
SIR JIM RATCLIFFE: ‘INEOS is a company with enormous resources and manufacturing skills.’
The sanitiser products will be produced according to World Health Organisation specifications and be specifically designed to kill bacteria and viruses.
INEOS intends to produce both standard and ‘pocket bottle’ hand sanitisers and is already talking to retail outlets across Europe.
The news was welcomed by Henri Murison, director of Northern Powerhouse Partnership, who said: “Today’s announcement of plans to build a factory to make hand sanitiser free for those who need it most in our National Health Service, as well as the general public, is a significant demonstration of a major business responding to this global health crisis.
“Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his colleagues’ action to construct the Middlesbrough facility in 10 days is true leadership, and communities and the nation should recognise their action in the national interest.”
Sir Jim added: “INEOS is a company with enormous resources and manufacturing skills.
“If we can find other ways to help in the coronavirus battle, we are absolutely committed to playing our part.”
The company already manufactures a range of healthcare products, including rubber gloves, PVC saline drips, syringes, ventilators and medical tubing.