From detergents to recycled polymers: the former Unilever in Pozzilli, Molise, starts again

"We will produce recycled plastic granule, starting from post-consumer materials, transforming it into polymer to be reused for bottles, caps, tubs, and other products, and the plant will be completely rebuilt, as it is currently lacking in equipment and infrastructure. The announcement by Paolo Di Giovanni, director of the new Packaging To Polymers, the newco that brings together Unilever Ventures Holdings B.V. and Seri Plast (a company of the Civitillo group, which operates in the production and recycling of plastic materials, ndr.) puts an end to four years of uncertainty, negotiations and postponements on the future of the Unilever plant in Pozzilli, one of the longest and most complex industrial crises in Molise. Here detergents were produced, tomorrow they will produce recycled plastics from the recovery of post-consumer packaging.

A paradigm shift. In 2022, the Anglo-Dutch FMCG multinational, which markets 400 brands in 190 countries worldwide, decides to close down production. A year later, a public allocation from Invitalia and the private P2P became available to support a total production investment of 109 million (now down to 107.1 million) for the reconversion of the site, but on the last formal step, the signature of the National Development Agency did not arrive due to bureaucratic blockages and the appeal to the Molise Regional Administrative Court filed by the Civitillo group, Unilever's partner in P2P. The mechanism comes to a standstill.

Until six days ago, when the amicable settlement of the dispute was reached, 'thanks to two years of intense work between the Molise Region, the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Invitalia, the company and the trade unions, which finally came to a positive conclusion and which will have a positive impact on the entire Venafro area, one of Molise's industrial areas that is suffering the most,' stressed the regional councillor for Production Activities, Andrea Di Lucente.

Invitalia has reformulated the maxifinancing destined for P2P: approximately 79.5 million (14.7 million in non-repayable funds and 64.8 million in subsidised financing) will be used for industrial investment and 1.4 million for research activities, while another 26.2 million will be provided by the private sector. The public money is available immediately, since P2P's president, Vittorio Civitillo, has announced that he has already filed the deed of waiver of the appeal lodged with the Molise Regional Administrative Court and that from next week 'we will begin to be operational', with the aim of building a site that 'does not envisage any incinerator or chemical processes'. The timetable is practically done and Di Giovanni has spelt it out: work on setting up the plant, 'which will have to be completely rebuilt because it lacks plant and infrastructure, will begin shortly'; it is a maximum job, which shifts the start-up of production to the first quarter of 2028 and consequently the 58 workers currently on temporary lay-off will be progressively reintegrated as the work progresses, until they are completely reabsorbed by 2027. An industrial plan that Civitillo approved 'after much bureaucracy and waiting'.