We can add Rotuba Extruders Inc. and Phillips 66 to the list of plastics-related firms helping out during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Linden, N.J.-based Rotuba is supplying cellulose acetate sheet to its Pen Co. of America unit in Garwood, N.J. That business then is using the sheet to make Splash Guard-brand face shields for health care workers.
The cellulose acetate sheet used in the shields is chemical and scratch-resistant and can be easily cleaned with most household disinfectants, officials said.
"Pen ... is rewriting history and repurposing, using our material to make shields for front line health care workers," cellulosic sales director Hugh O'Neill said in a message to Plastics News.
In Houston, Phillips 66 announced April 14 that the firm will donate $3 million to COVID-19 relief efforts in the U.S. and United Kingdom. Of that amount, $1 million will be directed to the Greater Houston COVID-19 Recovery Fund and $500,000 to the Houston Food Bank.
The remaining funds will be distributed to front-line organizations that are responding to the pandemic in communities where Phillips 66 operates, officials said.
"The global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has had an indelible impact on every aspect of our lives, and finding ways to assist those in need is more important than ever," CEO and Chairman Greg Garland said in the release.
Phillips 66 is a global energy and chemicals firm whose assets include a polypropylene resin unit in Linden, N.J. The firm also owns 50 percent of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., one of North America's largest polyethylene resin makers.
Phillips 66 employs 14,500 worldwide and operates assets that were valued at $59 billion at the end of 2019.