RTP Company’s new plant in Wroclaw, Poland

RTP have opened a new Plastic Factory in Wroclaw, Poland. From their own website, it was announced as follows in February 2018 :

“The 8,000 square metre facility, located at Prologis Park V in Wroclaw, has a wide dock area with a high clearance ceiling, external office space, and a laboratory with controlled temperature and humidity. The production area will feature extra natural light, additional ventilation and drainage, and will accommodate up to six production lines. In addition to its excellent location, the park provides room to expand operations in the future.The plant will open this summer, and will employ 25 or more people who will provide additional support to our customer base in Europe.”

It is almost twice the size of the proposed factory at Skibbereen and will provide 25 jobs.

Besides the new RTP factory there is already a plastics factory in Wroclaw. One plastic factory probably attracts another one. Such is the way industrial clustering tends to work. The existing factory is a massive 18,000 square metres. You can see it in the following link :

This is the announcement of the RTP factory in Wroclaw :

“The American material company RTP will open its third factory in Poland in Poland, plasticsnews.com reports. Factory with an area of ​​8,000 square meters in Wroclaw will be next after the plants in France and Germany. It will employ at least 25 people. There is also a place for a possible enlargement of the factory.RTP from Winona, Minnesota is among the 30 largest companies in the industry in the USA. It has 18 factories around the world.”

As a consequence, Wrocław is one of the most polluted European and Polish cities. In a report by French Respire organization from 2014, Wrocław was named the eighth most polluted European city, with 166 days of bad air quality yearly.

You can access the research and sources for the following from the wiki page for Wroclaw : Wroclaw Wiki

According to the Wrocław University research from 2017, high concentration of particular matters (PM2.5 and PM 10) in the air causes 942 premature deaths of Wrocław inhabitants per year. Air pollution also causes 3297 cases of bronchitis among Wrocław’s children per year.

84% of Wrocław inhabitants think that air pollution is a serious social problem, according to the poll from May 2017. 73% of people think, that air quality is bad.

In 2012, there were 71 days, when the PM10 standards, set by Cleaner Air For Europe Directive, were exceeded. In 2014, there were 104 such days.

In February 2018, Wrocław was the most polluted city on Earth, according to the Airvisual website, which measures the air quality index.

In February 2018, Wrocław was the most polluted city on Earth, according to the Airvisual website, which measures the air quality index.

 

As regards employment it is important to note that the “jobs” created are not always well paid. The Amazon warehouses, some of Europe’s largest, in Wroclaw are there because union rules make operation in Germany for the German market more difficult. Locals often refuse the jobs and many of the workforce are Ukrainians (immigrants working for lower wages). David adds that – Culturally and for historical reasons “America” is often a synonym for “good” in Poland.

First they take Wroclaw, then they take Skibbereen?

If you are as worried as we are, please let us know. Join our campaign. Send us an email. Talk to your neighbours and businesses in Skibbereen.

As of today, we are waiting on a decision still from An Bord Pleanala. That we are even at this stage is a terrible shame and indicative of a terrible failure by our local goverment to even consider this development in a town like Skibbereen, in a region like West Cork, in a heavily marketed tourist destination like The Wild Atlantic Way.

Many thanks to David French for all the above information.