BASF Corp. is producing hand sanitizer at its specialty plastics site in Wyandotte, Mich., to assist during the COVID-19 crisis.
The firm donated the first 1,000 gallons of HandClasp-brand sanitizer to the Henry Ford Health System, officials said in a news release. The sanitizing product will help meet the increased demands needed to safely combat the coronavirus pandemic, they added.
The Wyandotte site is one of BASF's largest in North America, with more than 1,200 employees in production and R&D. The firm doesn't regularly make hand sanitizer there, officials said, but the facility received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to temporarily produce it.
As of April 15, BASF Wyandotte has produced more than 8,000 gallons of hand sanitizer for the Henry Ford Health System and other health care systems in Michigan, Texas, Louisiana, Mexico and Canada, as well as other BASF locations in the U.S.
"When we learned of the supply shortage of disinfectants for health care systems and hospitals, our technical experts in Wyandotte displayed amazing resourcefulness and collaboration to develop and produce a beneficial antimicrobial product within a few days," Midwest Hub General Manager Greg Pflum said in the release.
He added that because of the diligent efforts of the Wyandotte team, BASF "will help alleviate the critical shortage of disinfectant agent for front-line health care workers fighting COVID-19 in our communities."
BASF Corp. is based in Florham Park, N.J., and is the North American unit of global plastics and chemicals giant BASF SE of Ludwigshafen, Germany. The firm employs more than 117,000 worldwide and posted sales of more than $64 billion in 2019.