A historic plastic parts factory closes after almost 30 years: its two plants in Navarra stop working

The German multinational Knauf Industries, specialized in the manufacture of plastic parts and packaging materials, has closed its plant located in the Comarca II industrial estate, in Cendea de Galar (Navarra). The cessation comes after the company also paralyzed the activity of its Aoiz center during the summer, so its two Navarrese facilities have now been left without production, further weakening the Spanish industry that has already recently lost factories as important as Lagarto soap.

As stated The Chroniclerthe company requested from the Government of Navarra a modification of the Unified Environmental Authorization to formalize the “total closure” of the Galar plant. The regional Executive has authorized the change, although subject to compliance with different conditions.

The closure puts an end to a period of almost three decades of activity for Knauf Industries in Spain. The company began operating in our country in 1997, when it acquired the Miret company, and is currently part of the KNAUF Group, a family multinational founded in 1932 that has around 43,500 employees, a presence in more than 90 countries and more than 320 plants.

The closure of Galar leaves Knauf Industries without activity in Navarra

The Galar plant occupied more than 5,000 square meters between its different facilities and was dedicated, among other activities, to the recycling of waste and its transformation into expanded polystyrene, a material later used to manufacture technical parts and packaging.

Now, this closure does not come alone. During the summer, the company had already interrupted activity at its other Navarrese center, located in Aoiz. In this way, Knauf Industries ends its operations in the two plants it maintained in Navarra.

Furthermore, a good part of the activity in the center of Galar was linked to another well-known factory in the area. According to the estimates of the LAB union collected by Navarra Capital and cited by The Chronicleraround 90% of its production was destined for the BSH plant in Esquíroz.

Precisely, BSH later announced its intention to close and ended up closing the shutter definitively at the end of 2025, which left Knauf Industries without one of its main clients in Navarra.

The seven workers had already carried out strikes to improve their conditions

The Galar plant had seven workers, who had already participated in protests in October 2023 to demand better working conditions after three years of negotiating with the company.

At that time, LAB, which had the only union representative on the staff, considered that the state Chemical Industries agreement was “totally insufficient for the Navarra reality” and asked to reach an “own” agreement.

Two months later, workers and management reached an agreement. Among the agreed measures were salary increases linked to the CPI, the complement of sick leave until reaching 100% of the salary from the first day and the suspension of an ERTE that was planned.

But the industrial situation has ended up leading to its definitive closure. With Galar without activity and Aoiz stopped since the summer, Knauf Industries leaves behind its productive presence in Navarra after years dedicated to the manufacture of plastic materials and packaging for other companies.