Clean-energy company Fortum joins forces with the biggest retail chain in Finland to fight the topical COVID-19 pandemic. Fortum Vipu, a sustainable hands-free door handle made of Fortum Circo® recycled plastic, is piloted starting from Monday the 20th of April in Helsinki, to prevent further spread of the virus.
Public places are hot spots for contagious diseases, and good hand hygiene is key in preventing infections. To help in the ongoing fight against the pandemic, Fortum, a clean-energy company and the consumer plastic packaging recycler in Finland has developed a sustainable hands-free door handle, Fortum Vipu (Virus Prevention Unit).
Made out of Fortum Circo®, a versatile recycled raw material produced of consumer plastic packaging waste that is sorted and collected from Finnish households, the handle gives waste plastic a new life while protecting people. It’s a simple add-on to existing door handles, allowing people to open doors with their arm, minimizing touching the handles with their palms and fingers.
“To help fight COVID-19, our interactions with the built environment need to be hands-free. By innovating our surroundings, we can prevent the spread of the virus and give people a chance to do their daily chores more safely. We are now testing the 3D-printed handles in a real environment for a few weeks. If everything goes as planned, we are ready to expand our production”, says Fortum Brand Manager Jussi Mälkiä.
The project is piloted with Finland’s biggest retailer S-group to gather user experience for further product development.
Read more: www.fortum.com/handle
For more information, please contact:
Jussi Mälkiä
Brand Manager, Fortum
+358 50 352 5328
jussi [dot] malkia [at] fortum [dot] com (jussi[dot]malkia[at]fortum[dot]com)
Anniina Rasmus
Brand Sales Manager, Fortum Circo®
+358 40 081 5484
anniina [dot] rasmus [at] fortum [dot] com
Fortum
Fortum is a leading clean-energy company that provides its customers with electricity, heating and cooling as well as smart solutions to improve resource efficiency. We want to engage our customers and society to join the change for a cleaner world. We employ some 8,000 professionals in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, Poland and India. In 2019, our sales were EUR 5.4 billion. Fortum’s share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
Fortum Circo® - Recycled Plastics
Fortum Circo is a plastic recyclate produced from post-consumer plastic waste. With consistent and high quality, versatility and solid availability, Fortum Circo recycled plastic can be used in a wide variety of products – from household appliances to industrial and commercial films and blow-moulded articles. www.fortum.com/circo
Fortum Vipu – The handle with care