One year after the Coronavirus was declared a global pandemic, face masks have become ubiquitous in daily lives as they continue to be mandated in more public places. And, not only is everyone wearing masks, it seems like everyone is making them too.

The result of this surge in usage and demand for masks, which had previously largely been made in Asia, has led to an unprecedented rate of investment in not just face masks but in their main raw material component—meltblown nonwovens. Companies ranging from veterans in medical products and filtration media to newcomers looking to help fight the spread of the Coronavirus, and make some money in the process—have spent the last year ramping up face masks lines and nonwovens production facilities to fuel demand for masks and respirators used both on the front lines and in consumers’ daily lives.

As the Coronavirus pandemic begins its second year, investment in new mask lines continues. U.S. president Joseph Biden has recently mandated mask use in all federal buildings and on most forms of public transportation, and communicable disease expert Anthony Fauci is telling Americans that wearing two masks is better than one. With herd immunity still many months away, experts are forecasting the virus surge to last well into the third quarter of 2021 with mask usage to continue, to some extent, well afterwards.

Masks-A-Million
After months of ramping up its masks output, in December, Honeywell announced it had reached a significant milestone by delivering more than 225 million face masks to help protect workers in response to the increased demand for respiratory protection products.

Honeywell delivered the N95 respirators and disposable, surgical face masks to multiple locations in the U.S. for healthcare systems, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, the company shipped millions of masks to state and local governments in support of their response to Covid-19 and for their personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpiles.

“We are honored to play a part in providing much-needed PPE to those workers responding to the pandemic in the U.S.,” says Praveen Reddy, president, Honeywell’s Personal Protective Equipment business. “Honeywell has made significant investments to expand our capacity to produce N95 masks and other respiratory products in the U.S. and globally.”
Honeywell produces a range of respiratory protection products for workers, including NIOSH-certified N95 masks, flat-fold single-use masks and elastomeric half-masks with replaceable cartridges.

By steadily increasing production capacity, the company has the ability to produce hundreds of millions of face masks for healthcare and other critical needs.

Honeywell first began ramping up its N95 mask production operation at multiple U.S. facilities in the U.S. The company was able to begin operations in just five weeks by accelerating a process that could normally take up to nine months. The operations were initially capable of producing 20 million masks per month, and Honeywell has steadily increased capacity throughout the year.

“We have seen overall improvements in material availability since the pandemic started,” Reddy says. “Honeywell has expanded our production operations globally to help address the unprecedented demand, and we invested in automation in order to streamline operations and increase output. With these efforts, we have the capacity to be able to produce more than a billion N95 face masks per year.”

Looking ahead, Honeywell expects to see continued demand for respiratory protection for the near future as experts claim that face masks are one of the more effective methods at helping curb the spread of the virus. “Governments are issuing stronger mandates and guidelines for mask usage,” Reddy adds. “We are also seeing a greater push for high-quality masks, such as the N95 masks, to be made available to the general public. 

Like Honeywell, 3M has also parlayed its experience in nonwovens and filter media production into a sizable mask business. In November, after several months of around-the-clock production, 3M announced it was expanding its plant in Aberdeen, SD, to allow it to increase production of N95 respirators, which are needed by those fighting on the front lines of the pandemic. Built in 1974, the Aberdeen facility is 3M’s largest U.S. respirator plant. The expansion, which adds additional manufacturing lines and automated equipment to further increase the production of N95 respirators, was made possible by a partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense along with investments by 3M.

Prior to this investment, 3M had already been able to triple production of respirators to two billion in 2020. The expansion in Aberdeen, where tens of millions of respirators are already being made every month, will help push monthly production of N95 respirators in the U.S. to 95 million per month.

As a global company, 3M also manufactures respirators in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and its products are being similarly deployed to support the Covid-19 response in those respective regions.

 At the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, chairman of the board Mike Roman announced the company was shipping respirators form South Dakota to New York and Seattle, which were initially the most hard hit areas in the U.S.

“Like everyone, I see the pleas from our heroic doctors, nurses and first responders for the respirators and other equipment they desperately need. I want people to know we are doing all we can to meet the demands of this extraordinary time and get supplies from our plants to where they’re most needed as quickly as possible,” he says.

Meanwhile, medical device companies, like Medline, have announced initiatives to expand face mask production. In December, Medline said it was scheduled to begin making level-1 ear loop procedure masks in January with a second production line expected to launch later in 2021. When the two lines are fully operational, Medline estimates it will be able produce 36 million face masks per month.

“Throughout the pandemic, Medline has been laser-focused on implementing new ideas to combat the national shortage of medical supplies. In particular, our customers have a critical need for readily available face masks. This is a significant capital investment in one of our largest manufacturing facilities that will increase the number of face masks Medline can offer to healthcare facilities and diversifies our PPE supply chain,” says CEO Charlie Mills.

More than 30 healthcare providers spanning hospital systems, skilled nursing facilities and homecare providers committed to purchasing the made-in-America face masks as part of Medline’s North American Manufacturing Expansion initiative, including Bon Secours Mercy Health, University of Washington Medicine, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Geisinger, Encompass Health, Wisconsin Illinois Senior Housing and CVS Pharmacy.

“In order to provide whole-person care to everyone who trusts us for their health care needs, it is crucial that our more than 80,000 team members have access to critical PPE at all times,” says Marisa Farabaugh, SVP and chief supply chain officer, AdventHealth. “This expansion marks an important step in domestic manufacturing within the healthcare supply chain to ensure future resiliency and improves our ability to keep our providers, team members and patients safe.”

Ascend Offers Antimicrobial, Odor-Resistant Technology for Masks

Ascend Performance Materials has been applying its Acteev Protect antimicrobial odor-resisting fabric technology to the face mask market. The technology was recently named a winner at the 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards, which recognize new and groundbreaking technologies used in winter apparel, outdoor and sports products and materials.
Acteev is made with a patent-pending technology that embeds zinc ions in a polymer to create long-lasting antimicrobial properties. The result is a fabric that destroys odor-causing bacteria and fungi. Acteev yarns and fabrics are abrasion-resistant, soft and durable. Because the zinc ions are embedded during the polymerization process, nonwoven, knit and woven articles made with Acteev retain their antimicrobial efficacy even after washing.

Testing on knit fabric completed at the University of Cambridge demonstrated that Acteev technology deactivates SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, with 99.9% efficacy on contact. Ascend is working with governmental agencies to obtain the appropriate regulatory clearances to make specific claims in the U.S. regarding the technology’s antiviral properties. According to communications manager Nicki Britton, Ascend has been working on the Acteev technology for about five years, but this marks the first time the company has focused on consumer markets with a face mask product.

“Our first consumer product was a nonwoven face mask using Acteev,” she says. “This mask is not disposable, which is a big differentiator. It is Nylon 66 and the zinc technology is imbedded during the polymerization process right into the molecule of the nylon. Since, it’s not a coating, it doesn’t fade away or chip off.”

Because the Acteev technology is imbedded in the polymer matrix, it can be used in a lot of different materials and, doesn’t require post processing, spraying. This makes it a drop in replacement for any application where it would have benefit, says Lu Zhang, vice president for Ascend’s Acteev business.

“We are working with the FDA, have applied and submitted application for a level one and level three surgical masks and these will be considered a medical device,” she adds.
Currently, Ascend has the ability to make 4-6 million masks per month and the company is exploring partnerships with mask converters to supply the nonwoven fabric imbedded with the Acteev technology.

“We want to partner with other customers to sell them the nonwoven fabrics,” Zhang says. “We are by nature a B2B company and we have ventured into B2C but we did this to increase exposure for our brands. Our long term goal is to expand this technology by working with partners with knowledge of the consumer market.”

Nonwovens on the Frontline
INDA president Dave Rousse recently wrote the Department of Commerce to highlight the herculean efforts the nonwovens industry has made in the fight against Coronavirus. Much of these efforts centered around meeting the need for face masks in North America.

“At the start of this crisis, about 85% of face masks came from Asia and the supply chain was shut down over night so they could devote these materials to their own needs,” he says. “We did not have a robust supply chain and that’s what we scrambled to put together over the last nine months.”

To ensure that shortages of face masks and other personal protective equipment do not happen again, Rousse, on behalf of INDA, recommends that federal dollars be spent on American made PPE rather than imports and calls for an effective management of a strategic national stockpile, which was woefully low at the start of the pandemic. Additionally, federal incentives should be given to industry members for investments and financial aid should be given to users of PPE who many have to pay a higher premium for products made in the U.S.

Government contracts have already supported nonwovens investment in the U.S. In June, Lydall, a Connecticut-based nonwovens producer, signed a $13.5 million contract award with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to support investment in two new meltblown production lines at its Rochester, NH, facility. This investment significantly accelerated Lydall’s domestic production of fine fiber meltblown filtration media for N95 respirators and surgical masks.

With the installation of these two new production lines, Lydall’s New Hampshire facility will be the largest site for meltblown filtration media production in the U.S. and a center of excellence for advanced filtration media innovation. To support the wider need for improved air quality beyond Covid-19, Lydall’s innovation team is focused on developing new carbon-based, high-efficiency media for MERV-, HEPA- and ULPA-grade filters for hospitals, airplanes, restaurants, office buildings and other public spaces, in addition to material for face masks.

Ashish Diwanji, president of Lydall Performance Materials, reports that the first new line in New Hampshire is up and running and supplying fine fiber meltblown materials for face masks and respirators. However, the industry continues to wait for additional investments like Lydall’s second line in New Hampshire and a third new line being built in France.

“There is a still a long way to go to for the domestic supply chain to meet demand for face masks,” he says. “We predict that demand will continue to increase during the pandemic surge period, which will last through the third quarter or 2021. Post-pandemic, mask usage will continue to be higher than it was pre-pandemic, and the U.S. government will require more than two billion face masks per year to rebuild its national PPE stockpile.”

Diwanji adds the decision to invest in fine fiber meltblown came after discussions with its key customers revealed serious shortages in supply both in the U.S. and Europe.

“We heard from customers and industrial associations that the N95 respirators used in hospitals were in short demand. China had stopped supply because Chinese companies had to prioritize the needs of their country,” Diwanji says. “This led to some companies—namely 3M, Honeywell and Owens & Minor—to very quickly ramp up production of their respirators, and they quickly recognized that there was a serious shortage of the critical middle layer.”

Like Lydall, Berry Global, the world’s largest nonwovens manufacturer, has significantly expanded its meltblown output around the world to meet demand for face masks, but this company has taken its efforts a step further by also forward integrating into face mask production with the installation of nine lines including one in China, one in Europe, five in the U.S. and two in the Latin America. These lines will ultimately be able to make more than 20 million masks per month.

Along with these investments, Berry has extended its Synergex range of products, developing Synergex ONE, new media design for face mask applications. Engineered to initially meet the new face mask categories for general population, the aim is to quickly bring the media up to EN 14683:2019 standards for surgical masks. The newly introduced Synergex ONE provides a multilayer nonwoven composite product in a single sheet, as an alternative to traditional face mask layer structures.

Berry’s face masks business will at least in some degree be served by its recently expanded meltblown production footprint, which spans North and South America, Europe and Asia, thanks to a string of recent investments, and brings the number of total meltblown lines operated by Berry, once these investments are complete, to nine and provides the company with the ability to supply locally in all four world regions.

Meanwhile, Ahlstrom-Munksjö, a Finnish nonwovens producer, began expanding its offerings and capacities of protective medical products, including face mask materials, to meet the strong demand globally at the start of the pandemic. In May, the company launched its Extia Protect product range, specifically designed for face mask applications.

The Extia Protect portfolio consists of a full range of high-performance fiber-based solutions for face masks, including filtration layers, cover stocks, lace media and reinforcement layers. Each component of the range has been designed to meet specific requirements of the different type of masks, including respiratory masks, surgical masks, but also civil masks. The face mask offering is produced on an global industrial platform consisting of plants in Europe, North and South America and Asia, giving the company the required capacity to meet the regional demand.

“I am very proud of the work accomplished by our team. In only a few months, we have developed a full offering for face mask applications and are now in a position to serve the growing demand for face mask materials globally by utilizing the available capacity we have in industrial platforms across the globe,” says Daniele Borlatto, EVP Filtration and Performance Solutions.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö has extensive and in-depth knowledge of fibers used in medical fabrics. For decades the company’s Medical business has been making fabrics used to construct  surgical gowns and drapes, pleated surgical face masks, protective apparel and sterile barrier systems. Launching the Extia Protect portfolio allows Ahlstrom-Munksjö to offer customers a full range of technologies and has the ability to produce all layers for civil-, surgical- and respiratory masks. The company continues to explore all options to leverage its unique knowledge of fiber-based solutions to expand production.

Academia Contributes
Recognizing the meltblown supply was tight, in March researchers at The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) at North Carolina State University, swiftly converted two research and training pilot production lines to produce face mask materials to protect medical workers on the front lines of fighting the effects of Covid-19.

Instead of using meltblown technology the masks made by the Nonwovens Institute feature a new spunbond material that can serve as an effective filter without the need for a meltblown filtration layer. The unique fabric is composed of two different polymer materials that are combined to make a single fiber with significant strength and bulk – and that show effectiveness in filtration similar to current materials used.

“Because of the Covid-19 crisis, we took the spunbond technology and created a new generation of unique filters that have excellent filtering capability and can potentially be reused after cleaning with peroxide, or potentially alcohol solution,” says Behnam Pourdeyhimi, executive director of NWI, Wilson College of Textiles associate dean for industry research and extension and William A. Klopman Distinguished Professor. “Because these materials are strong, unlike classical meltblown filters, they can also be cut and sewn by traditional techniques.”

The institute also has a pilot meltblown line that has been making traditional mask material. “We created a recipe for the production of classical N95 respirator materials and will ship those materials out for industrial partners to convert these into respirators,” Pourdeyhimi says.

Additionally, NC State has added machines to allow NWI to make surgical masks in its Centennial Campus facilities. “We will take our own materials and convert them into masks and provide them to local communities,” Pourdeyhimi says.

Among, NWI’s partners is Hanes Industries, which has developed a proprietary surgical face mask developed in conjunction with the institute, as well as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health, and it has been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use by health care professionals as personal protective equipment.

The two-ply, single-use surgical mask features a unique fabric developed by NC State’s Nonwovens Institute combined with a fit design created in collaboration with UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State biomedical engineers and UNC Health infection prevention experts.

The Hanes mask uses a duckbill shape for better breathability, a wire nosepiece and foam insert to enhance a contoured fit, and placement of stretchable straps for a secure fit. UNC Health tested the masks to assure they meet FDA particulate filtration standards and OSHA respiratory protection program requirements.

“We are delighted to have this mask added to the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization for surgical masks during the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Mike Abbott, HanesBrands’ director of research and development. “It is a testament to the ingenuity and collaboration of our university partners and our R&D team to quickly develop a much-needed mask that is high quality, affordable and comfortable for health care professionals.”

Rapid development has defined the rapid rise of the face mask market during the past 12 months as companies have focused not only on expansion and proliferation, but improved efficacy, fit and performance.