The Blue Paper paper mill in Strasbourg, which produces recycled paper for corrugated board (PPO), finds itself at the heart of an environmental dispute. The plant, which employs 170 people, appeared in court on April 28.
According to Ici Alsace the company is accused of having exceeded the authorized production thresholds in 2022 without requesting an exemption from the Bas-Rhin prefecture. The site is subject to a ceiling of 1,200 tonnes per day and 400,000 tonnes per year. The inspectorate for classified installations estimates that this daily threshold has been exceeded on 60 occasions, for a cumulative total of over 20,000 tonnes.
The dispute is based on the reading of the regulations. According to Ici Alsace blue Paper relied on a smoothing of production over the year, whereas the authorities consider the daily ceiling to be strictly binding.
The second point of dispute concerns atmospheric emissions. Blue Paper allegedly failed to notify the authorities after two exceedances of dioxin and furan thresholds in 2024, even though such notification is mandatory.
Visit Latest news from Alsace indicates that these exceedances are linked to a malfunction in the site's incinerator. Analyses carried out in 2023 led Blue Paper to install additional treatment in March 2025. The results have since been deemed compliant by the authorities.
The Public Prosecutor's Office, which is contesting the good standing of the recycled PPO producer, has requested a fine of 200,000 euros for the production overruns and 7,500 euros for the offences relating to unreported pollutant discharges.
Judgment will be handed down on June 23 by the Strasbourg Criminal Court.
