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August 21, 2020 08:30 AM

Kickstart: Acrylic blocks roll from architecture to protection

Rhoda Miel
Managing Editor
Plastics News Staff
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    Acrylic blocks roll from architecture to protection

    One thing you can say about 2020: It has certainly proved how adaptable plastic products are and the plastics industry is. Can't make car parts? Make ventilators instead. Need protective medical gowns? Let's convert a trash bag film line to make them. Got a 3D machine for prototype manufacturing? Let's use it to make face shields, respirator components and something called "ear protectors" you never knew existed six months ago.

    The latest case in point comes out of Pensacola, Fla.-based Hy-Lite, whose 8-by-8-inch acrylic blocks are typically used in architecture but are now being converted into protective panels to protect medical workers and the public at a Montana tribal health center.

    The Salish and Kootenai College Health Center in Pablo — just south of Flathead Lake in northern Montana — is part of the Confederated Salish and Kootenia Tribes (CSKT) Tribal Health Department. It needed a good system to separate workers, the public and patients to control the spread of COVID-19. After first considering cloth panels, local business Valley Glass Inc. recommended the Acrylic Block Privacy Panels specially developed by Hy-Lite in response to the pandemic.

    The panels are made with blocks more than an inch thick and placed into metal frames that can be wheeled into places where they're needed. The acrylic is also easy to sanitize.

    "These panels are appealing to our organization due to their versatility," said Anna Parker, a medical assistant with CSKT. "They're easy to move around. This is an attractive and effective way to provide some safety barriers --- and even privacy --- to employees in their respective work areas."

    Hy-Lite, part of U.S. Block Windows Co., sells the panels through its own online store.

     

    Getting to work

    BASF has been courting shoe makers for the past few years, leading to commercial launches for sporting goods giants Nike and Adidas. And now it is moving from tracks to the loading dock, teaming with Timberland to supply polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane to the Timberland Pro Reaxion safety shoe.

    BASF's Elastollan TPU is featured in the outsole for traction and anti-abrasion, while the Elastopan high-rebound PU foam is used in the midsole and insole to offer all-day support and comfort.

    "We wanted to give workers a new experience. A safety shoe that is just as comfortable and appealing as their favorite athletic shoes, but provides the energy return needed to keep them going during the workday," said Bert Spiller, vice president product creation at Timberland Pro. "We needed help to make that happen and BASF was the right partner for the job."

     

    iStockphoto
    Do you write letters anymore? A few determined people are doing their best to keep them arriving in U.S. mailboxes.
    How to speak out

    Maybe you've got your own thoughts on COVID-19 response, or recycling, or bag bans. If you want to share them, Editor Don Loepp has some basic information on how to submit Mailbag letters or Perspective columns.

    He outlines the rules here, but most of them are basic common sense. This isn't a marketing opportunity, so no product pitches. Be polite. This isn't the place to dredge up old business or personality conflicts.

    Both letters and columns will be edited for clarity and space.

     

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