No future for ACCAM: “Everything will close in 2021”

ACCAM will close in 2021, without any alternative plant. This is the future of ACCAM, which was decided by the partners who met on 27 October, and who confirmed the end of the incinerator; no mediation, no agreement and a company that will probably be wound up.

The new vote takes the place of the one to close by 2017, and entails extending the life of the incinerator until 31 December 2021, in order to spread depreciations and to honour the contract with Europower, who run the plant. In the meantime, by drawing on the company’s capital, they will try to reduce the cost of waste and block any additional extraordinary costs, such as for the new filters, which are estimated at €4.5 million, without asking for help from councils.

It took 3 hours of discussion, behind closed doors, with the mayors talking and disagreeing. But in the end, the approach put forward by the Mayor of Legnano just passed, with 51.94% of the votes, although many of the mayors abstained or did not take part in the vote, most notably the Mayor of Gallarate. Andrea Cassani left the meeting long before his colleagues, because “I had a very clear mandate from my council,” he explained, referring to the project to build an organic waste treatment plant on the site, “and this isn’t a business plan, but a winding up of the company; it takes two to have a marriage, but there are partners with interests in other associated companies, so it’s clear there’s no chance of going on.”

And it would appear that divorce is inevitable between the two “main” partners, Busto and Legnano. Everything revolves around the FORSU plant, which Legnano (through the subsidiary AMGA) is about to build a few kilometres from ACCAM, and which Busto would have liked to duplicate in the Borsano area, thereby guaranteeing continuation of the company. This choice was always opposed by Legnano and the other AMGA partners, who, however, initially would have agreed to move the new plant, but only on the condition that ACCAM accepted the costs borne so far, €5 million. This mess is in danger of costing dear, particularly for the employees.

And so, the people employed directly by ACCAM and those by Europower were at the meeting, with helmets on their heads, placards saying “I am ACCAM”, with photos of their families, and wearing waste bags. As they had written in a letter some time ago, this was motivated by the fact that they feel they have been treated like waste and not as a resource. We are talking about 90 people in total, 30 employed directly by ACCAM and 60 by Europower, who are now genuinely afraid for their jobs.