Closure of cork factory in Silves “speaks in favor” of residents

Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the spokesperson for the civic movement Vizinhos da Fábrica, Nuno Neves, said that residents “were pleased to learn that the environmental discomfort caused by smoke and noise” resulting from the operation of the cork factory in Silves will end.

“Although we had never asked for the factory to close, we welcomed the news, because it is a decision that works in our favor,” he stressed.

Corticeira Amorim announced on Wednesday, May 7, that it will transfer, as of June 9, the expanded cork production unit located in Silves to Vendas Novas, to ensure greater business competitiveness.

The emission of smoke and noise from the factory, dedicated to the production of cork insulation agglomerates and located in Vale da Lama, in Silves, has been the subject of complaints from people living nearby for several years.

In information sent to the Securities Market Commission ( CMVM ), the business group states that the decision was taken “after an assessment of the production capacities existing in several industrial units of Amorim Cork Solutions”.

A source from Corticeira Amorim told Lusa that it will propose the «possibility of transferring the 31 employees currently in Silves to Vendas Novas».

However, he acknowledged that “this solution may not be viable for everyone”, and therefore “he is available to negotiate fair compensation conditions with workers” who choose not to do so.

This transfer is part of the “significant investments in new technologies” that Corticeira Amorim says it is making “with a view to relaunching the expanded cork business”, which at the beginning of this year was integrated into the new Amorim Cork Solutions business unit.

According to the civic movement's spokesperson, the Amorim Group "did well to make it clear" that the end of the factory's operations had nothing to do with the residents' demands, "so that social alarm would not be created among the workers."

“We ended up taking advantage of a situation that was private to the company, which only had to do with its operational management,” he concluded.

The municipality of Silves has acted as a mediator between the cork company, residents, the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission ( CCDR ) and the Pestana hotel group, with a golf course in the area that is also affected by smoke.