El Diario de Cádiz, in its 23 April edition, has echoed our charitable initiative against the pandemic. It highlights that the manufacture of anti-spray protection masks is being carried out with the support of our suppliers and the collaboration of numerous volunteers and Torrent Group staff.
The news item from Diario de Cádiz is below:
“The idea that the Coronavirus crisis had surprised the country without an industrial infrastructure able to manufacture medical and protective material with which to respond to the pandemic has taken root in a large section of society. The image of hundreds of citizens making masks in their houses, hand crafting methacrylate screens or sewing surgical gowns for professional use characterised above all the first weeks of the fight against the pandemic, when protective equipment and supplies were scarce and hardly arriving from abroad.
However, many industries have demonstrated that with some adjustments in their machinery and collaborative work with other firms, volunteers and institutions, they can re-align their activity to produce protective and sanitary material that is sorely needed in the fight against Coronavirus. Such is the case of Torrent’s non-refillable stoppers factory. A family company based in El Puerto de Santa María, with over a century of history behind it and factories in Kenya and India, they decided from the start of the crisis to contribute to the limiting of the collective damage being caused by Covid 19.
The factory has undergone a decrease in its activity during the weeks of the state of alert but has not stopped its machines, something for which it is grateful, and neither has it stopped trying to do its bit to help out in this difficult situation. Almost from the start, its managers knew what has happening in Italy, where some of its leading customers are based, so they were some of the first to implement safety measures and precautions in the factory in El Puerto de Santa María. “We saw it coming and took measures even before the declaration of the state of alert”, underlines Chief Executive, David Torrent, who nevertheless acknowledges that Covid 19 in this area of Andalusia “has treated us better than in other parts of Spain”.
As soon as they had the clear idea of collaborating in the fight against the pandemic, they sought the best way to do so, and put the suggestion to the Innovation Department. “We thought that if we can make stoppers, then why not make masks”. In no time at all, the idea that emerged from the company board and workers was proposed to the company owners, “and we decided to move forward”, a move that has been supported by a good number of volunteers and different firms.
Torrent Innova made the design and after commissioning the mould, produced in record time in a workshop in Ibi (Valencia), manufacturing began at Torrent’s facilities on the El Puerto industrial estate. Anti-spray protection masks (the technical term) have been designed specifically to prevent infection from this disease: Covid 19. They are made of malleable plastic, are comfortable and are adjusted to the face through elastic straps that are fitted manually by the El Puerto Civil Protection volunteers. Similarly, the masks also have a detachable filter and spare filter. They are simple to use and durable. Once used, the malleable plastic body can be cleaned in the dishwasher at a high temperature and the filter can be sterilized by placing it in a glass of water boiled in the microwave. They are therefore re-usable.
The masks have not been given official approval, “since we didn’t want them to be approved but to be ready as soon as possible”, their creator points out. They began to be manufactured on Easter Monday, 13th April, and are distributed completely for free by the transport company, DHL. It is a charity project that is going along quite well. As a reflection of their beneficial and charitable purpose, each mask is stamped with the words From Cádiz to the World.
With the anti-spray protection masks project, the following have also “contributed selflessly and generously, equally doing their bit”: Makers from Cádiz, Iberescan3D, Protorba, Mecanizados Ibi, Rincotex, Plásticos Romero, Manatex, Franco Tapicerías, Carnicería Israel, Makro, Youth volunteers from Jerez, as well as the Torrent Group management team and workers.
In recent days, the Torrent Group has donated to El Puerto 4000 masks which have been distributed by the mayor, Germán Beardo, and councillors from the City Corporation, and they have also been distributed to people from different cities in the province who work on the front line against the pandemic. They are already being used by the Local Police, Firemen, Civil Protection, Civil Guard, health centres, old people’s homes, hospitals, detention centres, government employees, municipal contract employees or taxi drivers, as well as the County Council and several local town halls. Until now, some 70,000 masks have been distributed, although the project envisages the manufacture of 200,000 units.
“They’re not on sale: they’re donations. We’re not charging for them as we want to distribute them to those who need them most. We are doing it to help out. Everyone wants to help out to meet the needs we see and there are volunteers and companies contributing. We manufacture products for society and thanks to this we can now give back to society some of what it has given to us”, concluded the company’s CEO, David Torrent.