MOSCOW (MRC) -- 3M Canada in Brockville, Ont. will produce as many as 100 million N95 masks a year following a roughly USD70-million agreement with the federal and Ontario governments, said Canplastics.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the deal on Aug. 21 at the Brockville facility.
Ottawa and the province will each contribute USD23.3 million to expand manufacturing capabilities at the Brockville plant – where 3M makes tape and other materials – allowing it to produce the increased amount of masks, which are made from synthetic plastic fibres.
The masks are considered a critical piece of protection in the ongoing battle against COVID-19.
The masks made at the expanded facility will be used to meet “private sector, provincial, and North American market demand throughout the pandemic and beyond,” said Robert Gibson, a spokesman for Ontario’s minister of economic development.
"With mask production in Brockville, it increases public confidence in our PPE supply chain. We can count on Canadians making masks for Canadians,” Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MP Michael Barrett said in a statement. “It’s important that Canadians have a secure and reliable source for these important products and our skilled workers here are certainly up to the task."
As MRC informed earlier, SIBUR and 3M have signed an agreement to cooperate in product development and polymer recycling at SIBUR’s PolyLab. Thanks to their durability, strength, eco-friendliness and other advantages, such polymers as polyethylene and polypropylene are some of the most widely used synthetic materials, popular with the construction, utilities, automotive, healthcare, food and other industries.
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC