Reno de Medici’s (RDM) cartonboard plant in Villa Santa Lucia in Italy is up and running again. The Slc Cgil union confirmed to EUWID that operations were restarted on 5 March. Production would now be ramped up slowly as the machine had been down for months, the responsible union spokesperson said.
The Villa Santa Lucia mill had been standing still since July 2023 due to legal disputes related to the site’s wastewater and sludge treatment. In January, RDM therefore initiated the procedure for closing the site for good, which led trade unions and politicians to mobilise in order to save the mill from closure. The issues have now partly been resolved, so RDM announced at the end of February that it would stop the procedure and restart the board machine.
As RDM reported, a few questions still need to be clarified. Together with the Lazio region and the Assocarta paper industry association, the company has submitted an enquiry to the Ministry of the Environment. Among other things, it concerns the general categorisation of primary sludges, which the applicants believe should be classified as a raw material and not as waste, the union spokesperson explains. The answer is still pending, she said.
Reno de Medici produces white-lined chipboard on one machine with a capacity of 220,000 tpy at the Villa Santa Lucia plant.
