The ‘Neighbours of the Factory’ are feeling frustrated and angry with the outcome of the last meeting with Amorim Cork Factory. The bulletin does not make easy reading for our group of neighbours who have challenged Amorim to clean up their factory for far too long!
All the promises going back over two and a half years have not been completed. We daily have to breathe contaminated smoke which affects our health causing allergies, asthma and many other breathing problems.
We Deserve the Right to Breathe Clean Air!
On May 10, 2024, the 11th quarterly meeting was held to follow up and monitor the work to correct the environmental anomalies at the factory of Amorim Cork Insulation (ACI) in Vale de Lama, Silves. The meeting was held at Silves Town Hall and was attended by Councillor Maxime Sousa Bispo and representatives of CCDR-Algarve, the Pestana group an the “Neighbours of the Factory” Residents' Committee.
The meeting bulletin reads as follows...
The phase-1 pre-filter was installed last summer with the promise of reducing white smoke by around 80%. Today, the ACI acknowledges that the equipment installed does not guarantee an 80% reduction in white smoke, as they had hoped, and, unfortunately, they also have no information on how effective the pre-filter is in reducing white smoke. The residents' committee “Neighbours of the Factory” and the Pestana group have expressed their discontent, and the CCDR Algarve its concern, about the amount of Suberin that may be being emitted at the moment, despite all the work andpromises from ACI.
The factory's general manager, Carlos Manuel Oliveira, announced at the end of 2023 that the factory's managementmaintains the order to suspend or stop the cork block production process when the pre-filter is not working properly.
CCDR-Algarve and Silves Town Council asked ACI to carry out measurements or tests to certify the degree of white smokereduction with the pre-filter in operation, and to present the results at the next meeting in July 2024. Silves MunicipalCouncil also requested that ACI should consider stopping production, as assumed by the ACI, when the degree of whitesmoke reduction is less than at least 40%.
ACI has announced a further postponement of the completion of the ongoing phase-2, which involves the installation of RTO equipment that should completely eliminate white smoke and the smell of burning cork. This new delay means that, in the worst-case scenario, phase 2 will be completed in August 2025, although the ACI is working to bring forward the deadline for completion of the RTO installation.
The residents' committee “Neighbours of the Factory” mentioned the fact that black smoke from the furnace was beingemitted again on several occasions. ICA will analyse the situation and put an end to the emission of unfiltered smoke assoon as possible.
ACI continued its noise reduction work on the west side of the factory. ACI has designed a building to soundproof the noise coming from the crusher and alterations to the cork storage building have been completed to accommodate the quiet operation of the Trommel. These measures have been licensed by Silves Municipal Council and are intended to considerably reduce the noise from the factory's operation. In addition, ACI is implementing further noise reduction and mitigation measures and carrying out regular acoustic measurements, based on the revision of its acoustic soundproofing project for the factory.
The restriction on the plant's opening hours imposed by Silves Town Hall remains in place. The entire factory will stop operating from 11.59pm on Friday, until 4 am on Monday for the boiler, until 8 am on Monday for the autoclave, and until 8 am on Monday for the rest of the factory.
All parties are very frustrated by the delays in completing the RTO installation work. The quarterly meetings have beentaking place for around 3 years and the delay in completing the work amounts to almost 2 years. Despite ACI's efforts,the existing delay places serious reservations on the positive conclusion of this process.
The “Neighbours of the Factory” met with the CCDR-Algarve in November 2023 to discuss the high levels of fine particles,defined as PM10, in the vicinity of the factory. The CCDR-Algarve said that it had asked the government to providefunding to carry out tests outside the factory in 2024, in each wind direction, for a period of one year.
We would all like to thank the permanent municipal executive of Silves Town Council for their support and commitment in carrying out this participatory process, which aims to correct the environmental anomalies of the factory of Amorim Cork Insulation (ACI) in Vale da Lama, Silves, with a consequent reduction in the pollution caused by its operation, and to improve the relationship between ACI and the surrounding population, contributing to a more integrated and participatory community in resolving matters of public interest in the environmental field.
