BASF Reconfigures Plants to Produce Hand Sanitizer

German chemicals and materials firm BASF is reconfiguring several of its Personal Care production facilities in Europe to manufacture hand sanitizers in response to increased demand created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced in a release Tuesday.

“We know that the supply situation for suitable disinfectants is very tight in Europe. By using our production assets and filling lines to offer disinfectants to hospitals, we are helping fight the current coronavirus pandemic,” Xavier Susterac, senior vice president, Personal Care Europe, said in a statement. “Our priority at BASF is now to protect people, both inside and outside the company.”

A BASF Personal Care facility in Dusseldorf, Germany has produced and donated some 13,000 liters of hand sanitizer and plans to manufacture an additional 23,000 liters of the product for local medical institutions. BASF said similar efforts are underway in Spain, France, and Italy. 

The company currently produces some of the raw materials, including isopropanol alcohol, needed to produce hand sanitizer, but it is sourcing some of the ingredients from other firms. 

Chemical news organization ICIS reported in mid-March that BASF is starting production of hand sanitizers at its petrochemicals site in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The company plans to give the products to hospitals in the Rhine-Neckar region. 

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