Will there be two industrial projects on the former Béglaise paper mill site? In any case, this is the wish of former employees who want to live with the company chosen to occupy part of the land. The Belgian group Etex, which employed around one hundred employees, closed its doors on March 31, 2021. Former employees of the paper mill, installed in Bègles since 1929, created the association
“Future of the Bègles paper mill” and set up an industrial project called Origami. It plans to recycle 100,000 tonnes of waste paper by restarting the site’s industrial tool and upgrading it to bio-based materials, in particular for building insulation.
A revised and corrected project for cohabitation
During the holidays, Etex announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with its competitor the Global Hygiène group, specializing in the manufacture of single-use hygiene and wiping products, so that it can be installed on part of the site, thanks to the support of EPA Bordeaux Euratlantique as a developer. First sounded by this announcement, the association wants to present a new version of its project with the idea of cohabitation with the company Global Hygiène. Emphasizing that the recycling of thousands of tons of paper, now incinerated, makes sense in the era of energy transition, the association hopes to have the ear of politicians. And a volunteer within the association, Bernard Fournié, consultant in business transformation and former leader of the agri-food industry, believes that there is “an economic interest in the two projects seeing the light of day together. “
“I welcome the sustainability and protection of the paper industry in Bègles through this agreement. I understand the disappointment of the employees. Their project was ambitious and innovative. Today, I am calling on the Global Hygiène group to imagine a common future with the former employees who have a lot to contribute to the project ”, reacted in a press release Clément Rossignol Puech, mayor of Bègles (EELV) and vice-president of Bordeaux Metropolis. For his part, Luc Brami, director of Global Hygiène, asks to know more about Origami: “I don’t know what their project corresponds to. I am willing to discuss but I will speak the day when I have more visibility. They want to reuse the paper machine, but the logic of my project is to replace it ”.
Seeking political and financial support
Euratlantique raises another difficulty: “we have to resell the land to the future owner of the operation and in the discussions we had with the association, we understood that they were not able to ‘investing in the land necessary for their gold operation, it is not possible for the EPA to remain the owner in the long term, ”explains Valérie Lasek, director of Euratlantique. To find a place on land not occupied by Global Hygiène, the association should therefore find financial support.
The former employees want to meet the head of Global Hygiène to explain their project to him, specifying that part of the storage of their finished products can be relocated to free up space on the site. The president of the association, Claude Duthil, adds that certain installations such as purification stations, pumping and the boiler could be shared. He also points to another advantage, that of the installation of a paper-making training center, which has attracted the attention of the Region. “But the maintenance of the industrial tool is necessary for that”, he slips.