Dart Container Supports Medical Community with PPE Production, Donations

4/16/2020

Media Contact: Dart.Communications@dart.biz April 16, 2020

Dart Container Supports Medical Community with PPE Production, Donations

Mason, MI – Dart Container, a major manufacturer of food & beverage packaging, is marshaling its expertise, equipment and people to help fill the dire need for personal protective equipment by health professionals battling the coronavirus.

Dart is partnering with fellow manufacturers, a research university and technology center in several efforts to design and mass produce face shields.

“It’s a tremendous honor for our people to play a role in helping protect healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dart CEO Jim Lammers. “We’re humbled by their heroism and grateful for the opportunity to use our engineering skills and manufacturing capabilities to turn the same raw materials used to make our cups, lids and containers into personal protective equipment for the medical community.”

Face Shield Production Project

Chick-fil-A, a longtime customer, contacted Dart for help with a face mask manufacturing effort spearheaded by Georgia Tech, a research university in Atlanta.
The original request was for raw materials, but it soon became apparent Georgia Tech wanted a partner who could produce plastic sheeting and shield components for large-scale production.
In less than a week, Dart engineers, in conjunction with the Georgia Tech-affiliated Global Center for Medical Innovation, came up with a shield design our facilities could mass produce efficiently.
Now Dart’s Urbana, Ill., facility manufactures the plastic sheeting and ships it to our Horse Cave, Ky., facility, which cuts the PET material into the shield component.
Dart is capable of manufacturing up to 80,000 shield components a day, and will work with distributors to deliver mask components to medical facilities.

Sparrow Health System Project and Donation

As part of discussions with local organizations on how to help the mid-Michigan medical community, face shields were mentioned as a critical need. As Dart was already working on face shields in partnership with Georgia Tech, Dart expanded its efforts to assist Sparrow Health System in Lansing, MI.

“We’re thrilled to support our Sparrow healthcare heroes by designing and donating face shields for their use when caring for COVID-19 patients,” Lammers said. “We can’t think of a better way to celebrate Dart’s 60^th anniversary than to use our manufacturing know-how to help keep our local healthcare workers safe.”

With the Urbana and Horse Cave production underway, Dart’s Machinery and Tooling Manufacturing (MTM) and Engineering teams began manufacturing their own shield frame in Mason.
After sourcing the remaining components – the foam pad and hook-and-loop fastener – MTM combines the frame and shields made in Horse Cave and remaining parts into kits for assembly.
In the coming weeks, Dart will donate 5,000-10,000 face shield kits to Sparrow.

Donation to Emory Health System & Other Georgia Healthcare Facilities

Dart donated 10,000 shield components to Georgia Tech, which will supply the remaining components and donate the face shield kits to Emory Healthcare System in Atlanta and other Georgia hospitals and nursing care facilities.

Leola, PA, Donations and Face Shield Production

Dart’s Leola, Pa., production facility is donating large amounts of raw material for mask production.

The facility, which employs nearly 1,700 people, donated 20 1,500-pound rolls of plastic sheeting to Trekboxx, a California company that is temporarily making face masks instead of vehicle storage systems.
The plant also donated rolls to H & H Group, a Pennsylvania sign company, and to Revital Polymers in Canada, that are making face shields.

Leola employees designed and made a limited number of face shields for their coworkers who can benefit from an extra layer of personal protective equipment.

Dart at a Glance

The US Department of Homeland Security has identified the food & beverage packaging industry as “essential critical infrastructure” during the COVID-19 pandemic, as have numerous states, because individual-use products help other essential industries keep food and drinks sanitary and people safe during this unprecedented pandemic. Therefore, all Dart facilities remain open at this time.
Dart, which celebrates its 60^th anniversary this month, is based in Mason, Mich., and has 14,500 employees at more than 40 locations worldwide.
Dart employs about 1,900 people at its Mid-Michigan operations, which include a production facility, MTM division, technical innovation center, UV ink production plant and corporate headquarters.
Dart offers more than 3,000 products used around the world in restaurants, schools, healthcare facilities, foodservice distributors, convenience and grocery stores, correctional facilities, coffee shops, sports arenas, and in the home.
Dart has long been the industry leader in providing education and recycling options for consumers. While our products give people the freedom to enjoy their food and drinks wherever they are, we also know there are consequences for that freedom so we accept our responsibility by taking leadership and action on initiatives to reduce the impact our products have on our neighborhoods and our planet. For more information, please visit dartcontainer.com/sustainability.

(Image: Machinery and Tooling Manufacturing (MTM) employee wearing a face shield produced at a Dart facility.)