Flemish production of face masks secured

Eurofilters and Medimundi

When the pandemic hit, a shortage of high-quality face masks made Flanders vulnerable to the COVID-19. Now, the Flemish government has awarded two local companies no less than 3.2 million euro in “Strategische Transformatiesteun COVID-19” to set up and structurally secure the local production of high-quality and reliable face masks. 

These companies are Eurofilters in Pelt, which specializes in high-tech melt-blown filter materials, and Medimundi in Turnhout, a spin-off of, amongst others, UAntwerpen and Cartamundi that recently started producing face masks on an industrial scale. Eurofilters will receive 2.4 million euro in support to build a new melt-blown production line, next to its own investment of 10 million euro. Medimundi receives 8000.000 euro in government funding, on top of a 2.2 million investment by the consortium behind the spin-off.

Strategic independence

By producing face masks and the necessary filter materials locally, Flanders becomes less dependent on import from abroad. This also allows for the built-up of a strategic stock, in case another pandemic hits. Moreover, concerns about low-quality face masks are mitigated.

Catalisti's role

Flanders has unique expertise in the fields of chemical production (polypropylene), plastics processing and high-tech textile manufacturing. As the spearhead cluster for chemistry and plastics, Catalisti has a broad network of partners within these fields. Therefore, on request of the Flemish government, Catalisti supported efforts to identify local expertise and evaluate potential production opportunities.