“The pessimists stay out!“proclaim Claude Duthil, president of the association “Avenir Papeterie de Bordeaux”. He has 32 years of seniority within the company. With the withdrawal of the Utex group, 91 employees lost their jobs at the Stationery. If 25 of them have found a job thanks to the PSE, others hope to be able to find their way back to Stationery.
This Saturday, the members of the association presented, on the occasion of a General Assembly, their plan to buy out the Papeterie de Bègles industrial site. It is about creating a cooperative society, a Scop, “where all employees have a voice“, with a desire to create 100 jobs and an ecological objective. Their desire is to continue recycling 100,000 tons annually waste paper produced in the region, and transform it in a bio-sourced material. The ecological argument is strong according to Claude Duthil: “If tomorrow it is Global Hygiène, which does not treat at all the same style of raw material as we do now, what will become of these 100,000 tonnes? Generally, it is buried, burned or it goes to Spain“.
The project will not be presented before August 1
But currently, the association cannot yet present its project to the Etex group, which has withdrawn from the Stationery. It is in exclusive negotiation with Global Hygiène, until July 31. At the end of this date, if the latter has not presented a formal takeover project for the site, the association “Avenir Papeterie de Bordeaux” will be able to present its project, which is already supported by the town hall, Bordeaux Métropole, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and the State.
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