Gypsum industry news

US: Johns Manville’s (JM) filtration products plant in Richland, Mississippi started production of nonwoven filtration media for use in face masks in April 2020. JM’s Engineered Products business decided to build on its existing capabilities and help meet market demand due to shortages in the US and Europe in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Johns Manville is in a unique position to serve a market that is fulfilling a great need across the world,” said Mary Rhinehart, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of JM. “Our high-performance nonwoven material is designed to provide high levels of filtration for various types of face masks. We are proud of our teams in Richland and throughout JM for finding new ways to support the communities and people who are on the front lines of this global crisis.”

JM says its media meets or exceeds Level 1 BFE 95% (Bacterial Filtration Efficiency) and VFE (Viral Filtration Efficiency) requirements. These results were verified by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) registered laboratory.

US: Johns Manville (JM) has received UL certification for DuraCore 300 chopped strands used to reinforce wallboards in the building industry. The product is manufactured at JM's facility in Slovakia. The certification recognises the product for performance and safety standards.

"Our customers can continuously rely on UL certified DuraCore products with improved dosing consistency and dispersion in wallboards," said Jared Cox, Global Product Manager-Chopped Strands Fibers for JM Engineered Products.