On Tuesday 13 July, a hearing was held at the Toulouse Commercial Court, during which Fibre Excellence announced the presentation of a firm takeover offer with investments of 180 million Euros for the Tarascon plant. The Court will render its decision on July 22 in the afternoon.
« The offer presented today is solid, the result of considerable work and constructive dialogue with all the players concerned in order to find a balance that will ensure the sustainability of the site, the maintenance of the industry, and meet the challenges of modernization and reduction of the environmental footprint. We are now waiting, as well as the entire wood industry, for the Court's decision said Jean-François Guillot, President of Fibre Excellence, in a statement.
The company specifies that the investment plan must notably allow the realization of the "Biowatt" electricity turbine project, which will allow the site to supply the region with biogenic electricity by valorizing the by-products of paper pulp production, in a circular economy logic.
Modernization and renewal of the industrial facilities will also be carried out, as well as the installation of installations to reduce the site's environmental footprint: reduction of odors through the collection and incineration of odorous gases in the black liquor boiler, improvement of water quality with the installation of improved filtration of suspended solids in the wastewater treatment plant, and construction of rainwater retention basins.
Fibre Excellence plans to install an oxygen delignification facility within four years, which will bleach the pulp with oxygen and reduce the use of chemicals. Since the beginning of 2021, the mill has been producing unbleached pulp (UKP) to minimize the use of chemicals.
