The company published a press release on Saturday evening denouncing the degradation perpetrated by activists on the site of one of its factories in the Bouches-du-Rhône.
The Lafarge group promptly reacted to the incident that occurred on Saturday evening at one of its sites in the south of France. Around 200 environmental activists then raided the La Malle factory site in the Bouches-du-Rhône and damaged structures, buildings and vehicles. Damages that “testify to unprecedented violence” according to the terms of a company statement released this Sunday, a few hours after the events.
“All employees are shocked today by the violence of this act of vandalism which undermines their work tool and the safety of operations,” the document indicates.
Lafarge filed a complaint
The general manager of the group, François Petry, expressed himself in particular through the press release: “Beyond the feeling of revolt and injustice which is that of all the personnel of the company and of the group faced with actions of such violence , I am thinking first of all this morning of the women and men of the La Malle plant and our partners, who are particularly shocked by this seemingly limitless attack on a state-of-the-art plant in the country in the field of carbon-free materials”.
“Beyond our factory, it is the progress process of the whole industry that is undermined by these actions,” said the manager.
While the police have started investigations on the spot, the company, which has filed a complaint, recalls that this site is “one of the most advanced French establishments in the production of low-carbon cements” and that “it has been the object of huge investments in recent months for its decarbonisation and that of its production.” In addition to its environmental dimension, the La Malle plant also has a local economic interest since it “directly and indirectly employs several hundred people”.
