COVID-19

3A COMPOSITES IS TRYING TO SUPPORT WITH DIFFERENT MATERIALS TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS

The safety of customers, employees, and facilities is always of primary importance. In order to fight against Covid-19, 3A Composites strictly applies the official guidelines, measures and recommendations of WHO on their sites as well as in all private environments. As largest European manufacturer of plastic and composite sheets, the company is attempting to alleviate the ongoing crisis by providing different materials offering many benefits to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. With its eleven production sites all over Europe, the company is ready to help. Production capabilities have been increased and production schedules have been changed to fulfill requirements for protective materials.

So far 3A Composites was able to contribute in the following projects that were realized with its materials:

TEMPORARY MEDICAL FACILITIES

London’s NHS Nightingale Hospital was built in a fortnight using white rigid PVC foamboards for temporary partition walls at ExCeL exhibition centre to separate individuals infected with Covid-19. This temporary hospital offers space for 4.000 patients.

Why FOREX® | FOAMALITE®?

• Light weight yet rigid and durable
• Very good chemical resistance
• Easy to clean with almost any commercial cleaner/disinfectant – please ask for detailed processing guidelines
• Simple, mechanical processing using standard tools for processing wood and plastics
• Fire behavior according to: DIN EN 13501-1; C – s3, d0 – please ask for the specific fire certificates applicable to the different thicknesses

In addition 3A Composites’ range of Aluminium Composite Materials including ALUCOBOND®, DIBOND® and ALUCORE® are perfect materials for temporary walls, transport boxes as well as medical furniture and clean rooms.

Why ACM?

• Easy to clean surfaces
• Excellent stability
• B1 and A2 fire classifications according to DIN EN 13501 – please ask for the specific fire certificates applicable to the different materials
• Suitable for more long-term uses

FACE SHIELDS / VISORS

Multiple companies are currently producing face visors using 3A Composites’ thin 0,5mm A-PET (amorphous polyethylene terephthalate) sheets, to protect doctors, nursing staff and people who can’t avoid direct contact with others.

Why LUMEX® A | HIPEX® A?

• Premium quality – extremely impact resistant
• Ideally suited to flat and cold bending applications
• Very high chemical resistance against cleaning agents, mineral oils, solvents and disinfectants
• Easy and fast to convert
• Flame retardant rated B – s1, d0 according to EN 13501-1 (difficult-to-ignite)
• 100% recyclable within its own waste category 1 (PET)

HYGIENIC PROTECTION WALLS

Clear transparent sheet materials are currently being used for hygienic protection walls in the health & retail industry to prevent the further spread of the virus. Within 3A Composites’ range of products different plastic sheets can be used for such applications: CRYLON®/AKRYLON®/PERSPEX® XT extruded acrylic glass sheets, PERSPEX®/CRYLUX™ cast acrylic glass sheets, IMPEX® polycarbonate sheets; LUMEX®/HIPEX® PET sheets. But not only the clear sheet itself, often a material combination is used, e.g holders to fix the clear sheets are made out of KAPA® or FOREX® / FOAMALITE®.

Why cast/extruded acrylic glass sheets?

• High transparency & durability
• High-quality surfaces
• Easy to fabricate
• Available in a wide range of thicknesses
• Lighter than glass of the equivalent thickness

Why polycarbonate?

• Virtually unbreakable in normal use
• Excellent optical properties
• Easy to process
• Very good fire performance for thicknesses from 1.5 up to 6.0 mm according to EN13501-1 (B – s1, d0) for standard grades
• Required, if there is an extraordinary need for impact strength

Why PET?

• For flat and cold bending applications (A-PET) as well as thermoforming and hot line bending (PET-G)
• Suitable for food applications
• Flame retardant rated B – s1, d0 according to EN 13501-1 (difficult-to-ignite)
• Range of clear transparent sheets in various thicknesses
• Very high chemical resistance against cleaning agents, mineral oils, solvents and disinfectants (A-PET)

3A Composites is here to help and to assist customers with their requirements to find the right material and to fight together against Covid-19!

Please stay healthy,
Your team from 3A Composites