Essity joins the fight against COVID-19

In this new reality we live in, it is important that we all stay safe to carry on. This means going the extra mile to work together and supporting those people on the frontlines and in most need of supplies.

“Essity has donated $200,000 to the United Nations Foundation to support the World Health Organization's lifesaving work in this area,” said Essity’s communications director Renée Remijnse. Essity has also donated 51,600 items of personal protective equipment including masks, gloves and glasses to Italy to support local hospitals as they face the COVID-19 emergency.

Meanwhile, a truck containing 44 pallets of baby nappies and feminine protection has been sent to help communities in Lesvos, Greece.  And 14,000 rolls of Tork toilet paper have been donated to the American Red Cross and Albany-based Living Resources.

The company has streamlined its output and is now focusing on manufacturing those items that are in greatest demand. The company is also working hard to safeguard the health of its staff.

“Taking care of our employees' health remains our priority,” said Renée. “When confronted with an imminent shortage of so-called ‘visitor masks’ in some of our factories, our R&D and technology departments teamed up with Mölnlycke in Sweden to design and produce the necessary masks in record time. 

“In just one week the team managed to convert a test line into a production line and successfully produced more than 100,000 face masks. And Essity has been cooperating with the Swedish government and is now also able to make a higher-grade mask that will be used in healthcare. The ambition is to initially produce three million surgical masks, with the first million being donated by Essity.”

The company is working with the Private Organisations for Patient Safety, WHO and local governments to prioritise the supply of products to healthcare customers.
Essity has also donated 100,000 essential items including toilet rolls and household towels to In Kind Direct which supports a network of more than 5,000 UK charities and community groups. An additional 60,000 toilet rolls have also been sent to local community groups in the North East of England close to the company’s Prudhoe manufacturing site.
 
And Essity has co-founded the Shop Responsibly campaign in the UK alongside other big brands including L’Oreal and RB.

Essity’s Tork brand, which manufacturers toilet tissue, soap, hand towels and hand sanitisers, has uploaded information about keeping safe from COVID-19 on its Tork website. This can be viewed at: www.tork.co.uk/virus