Background information

DuPont is known to produce the Tyvek® personal protection equipment which delivers performance that meets or exceeds industry standards for protection against a range of chemical threats and hazards. In Luxembourg (Contern exactly), the company works closely with the Luxembourg government's crisis cell to meet the demands of the country's hospitals. Therefore, DuPont in Luxembourg has chosen to significantly reduce its other activities, in order to focus on the production of Tyvek® personal protection equipment.

Content of measure

During the epidemic crisis, the production of this protection equipment (which is done only in Luxembourg and one site in United States) has seen an amazing increase as it was seen as the only perfect personal protection equipment against COVID-19 in manufacturing as well as in hospitals. During the first trimester 2020, DuPont's overall sales fell 4% to USD $5.2 billion: while some of the activities have seen stable results (electronics, food), or have declined (-13% for transport), others like the production of Tybek have increased (up 55% - from 5 to 9 million personal protection equipment per month). DuPont has also just signed a contract with the European Commission to deliver 5 million personal protection equipment over 12 months for front-line workers in COVID-19.

Use of measure

DuPont in Luxembourg has chosen to significantly reduce its other activities, in order to focus on the production of large volumes of Tyvek requested urgently in the country and in other site of DuPont in the world (7 in Asia, 1 in Roumania, 1 in Mexico). Thus, in Luxembourg, 1320 employees are working 24 hours a day to meet this demand. On average, the Luxembourgish-site produces around 200 million personal protection equipment a year. Already, the firm expects the output number for 2020 to be significantly higher.

Contents

• Other topics

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Companies providing essential services	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Company / Companies	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Company level

Involvement

No involvement.

Views and reactions

Not known.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 25 March 2020: Covid-19 – Tyvek® : une envolée de production impressionnant (fedil-echo.lu)