The countdown for Chapelle-Darblay is drawing to a close once again. In Grand-Couronne, Seine-Maritime, the restart of this paper mill specialized in the production of corrugated base paper (PPO) from recycled paper and cardboard is suspended on a decision that has been awaited for over a year: the granting of a 27.5 million euro loan by the Public Investment Bank (BPI).
Closed since July 2020, this production site for recycled newsprint formerly owned by UPM, is to be converted into a recycled PPO mill. The project, supported by Canada's Fibre Excellence and France's Veolia, requires a budget of ?274 million, including ?70 million in equity. it is expected to create 180 jobs.
A BPI loan is a precondition for any takeover
For several months now, the project's partners - Métropole Rouen Normandie, the town of Grand-Couronne and the CGT - have been making repeated calls, as they are still waiting for the BPI loan without which no start-up can get underway.
Faced with this impasse, on May 22, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, President of Métropole Rouen Normandie, Julie Lesage, Mayor of Grand-Couronne, Seine-Maritime, and Sophie Binet, General Secretary of the CGT, sent a new letter to Marc Ferracci, Minister of Industry and Energy. In it, they recall all the efforts made by local players: pre-emption of the site by Métropole tax exemption schemes, financial participation via SEM Axe Seine Énergies renouvelables and mobilization of the region.
"All the financial tools at our disposal have therefore been mobilized, and we are no longer waiting for the State to mobilize its own to produce the leverage needed for the plant takeover project and the rapid start-up of the construction phases.
The time spent structuring the position of all the public players penalizes the company's positioning in the booming PPO market, to which it is ready to commit. We can't wait any longer" they insist.
Fibre Excellence could pull out
They warn: "Fibre Excellence has already indicated that it will abandon the project, should the State fail to provide an answer quickly." The previous five-month extension, granted in December 2024, expires at the end of May. This new reprieve was obtained in extremis following an ultimatum issued by the manufacturer.
The Chapelle-Darblay project comes at a time when the capacity to process paper and cardboard for recycling is under pressure. Its realization would offer an industrial response to the needs of the corrugated packaging sector. Despite its strategic importance, the project remains blocked for a sum representing around 10% of the total investment.
