A TEESSIDE firm has contributed to the manufacture of 50million face shields for frontline workers during the pandemic.

DuPont Teijin Films (DTF) – a leading manufacturer of polyester films and coatings – also provided supplies of its clear plastic film to local community groups and face shield-makers to safeguard staff in hospitals and care homes across the Tees Valley.

More than 80 people work at DTF’S Global Innovation Centre at The Wilton Centre near Redcar.

DTF’s product range includes specialist clear and anti-fog coatings which are used in medical face shields and visors.

Following the Covid-19 outbreak, the company said its Teesside team designed “innovative additions”, including expanding a range of innovative optically-clear films, which within a week were put into production at its manufacturing sites in Scotland and Luxembourg.

This allowed its customers – the manufacturers of face shields - to meet the unprecedented increase in demand from the health, retail and hospitality sectors and they have so far provided them with more than 50 million protective items.

Dave Wall, the global technology director for DTF, said “We have been proud to play our part in responding rapidly to the challenges of the pandemic which is a credit to the dedication and commitment of our teams in Wilton, Dumfries and Luxembourg.”

DTF said its staff at The Wilton Centre will continue to develop the next generation of optically clear films for use in face shield and mask applications to meet the increasing needs in the market.

Meanwhile the company is also involved in a major research project at the University of Birmingham to develop new products which help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Scientists have already discovered, for example, that the virus can survive for several days on smooth surfaces – such as plastic and stainless steel – but for only a few hours on newspaper.

Work is ongoing to identify the surface properties that cause this difference and incorporate them into novel products for PPE and other applications, said DTF.

The Wilton Centre is also home to other businesses such as Absolute Antibody and Lloyds Register GMT which are also engaged in vital Covid-related work.