People in the Ijmuden region, where Tata Steel is headquartered, are excited, says Ineke Holtvik of the Frese Wind Group. She says, especially because of the motions that passed. Tata Steel’s sustainability plans, to which the government must contribute a lot of money, include health as a “mandatory requirement”, says Holtwijk.

This, in her view, is “historic,” because economic interests have hitherto been a higher priority.

The House of Representatives wants to ensure that the health of local residents is protected. “This means that if Tata cannot meet this condition, it is game over,” Holtwick said. According to her, this is urgently needed, because Tata’s own plans to reduce emissions from fine particles, among other things, are insufficient. “We call him the silent killer around here.”

The outgoing government recently chose to negotiate an accelerated sustainability plan with Tata. Depending on the results, the state treasury bill is likely to reach around 3 billion euros.

A broad majority in Parliament yesterday supported the plan, which would help ensure polluting smelters become more sustainable. Steel is currently still made using coal, but Tata wants to make “green” steel by 2030, including through the use of hydrogen.

She stated that the House of Representatives’ approval paves the way for one of the largest subsidies provided to a commercial company in a long time. F.D. Accelerating the clean-up of one of the Netherlands’ most polluting companies is part of the previous government’s plans to meet climate goals.

Rest for the employee

Approval means peace of mind for company employees, says FNV Metal’s Rob Wants. “Now we can move forward, as employees know that the company will continue to exist, and local residents know that something is being done about emissions,” he says. “We’ve been working on this for years, and in my opinion it could have been done much faster.”

But the sun shines for nothing, because the government is not allowed to just strike a deal with Tata Steel in Ijmuiden. For example, rules need to be put in place on recovery of subsidies and efforts must be made to ensure the largest possible financial contribution from Tata itself. MPs also want a guarantee of health insurance.

Tata itself says it is moving towards green steel, and the biggest investment in this is coming from the company itself. But Tata can’t do it alone, says sustainable transformation director Jeroen Klemper. “We will be investing a lot of money into it ourselves, it is a billion-dollar project and support is needed to get over the hill.” The first cleaner formulations are expected to be used before 2030.