Mexico City — Mexican rotomolder Grupo Rotoplas S.A.B. de C.V. has teamed up with toilet cleaning brand Harpic and the Mexican Red Cross to counter the spread of COVID-19 at one of the world's largest food markets.
According to the Mexico City-based company, the three organizations installed a field hospital at the Central de Abastos, considered in the early days of the pandemic to be one of the main sources of contagion in the Mexican capital.
In addition to carrying out tests on actual and potential COVID-19 sufferers, Red Cross staff, supported by Rotoplas and Harpic employees, have also given talks on hygiene and hung banners proffering advice on preventative action.
Other measures include the periodic sanitization of bathrooms and the installation of hand-washing stations.
"It is estimated that 12,000 people have benefited directly as a result of this alliance," Rotoplas reported in December.
Rotoplas, best known as a water tank manufacturer, has 27 product lines and operates a score of manufacturing facilities across the Americas. It employs about 3,000. It has been listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange since December, 2014. Slough, United Kingdom-based Reckitt Benckiser plc owns Harpic.
Other examples of how Mexico's plastics industry has helped during the pandemic, noted by national plastics industry association President Aldimir Torres, include:
• Food-grade PET recycler PetStar S.A.P.I. de C.V. donating 212,000 face masks, made from 1 million bottles, to hospital medical staff
• Chemical manufacturer Alpek S.A.B. de C.V. donating 500 gallons of hand sanitizing gel to public hospitals
• Dow Chemical Company contributing 25,000 protective gowns to the health sector
• Polyethylene maker Braskem Idesa S.A.P.I. donating 12 metric tons of PE for the production of one million bottles of disinfectant.