The air is undeniably cleaner after the blast furnaces were extinguished and everyone is happy with that. Even the recently laid off Port Talbotian Lian Hanford: He wants his four young daughters to grow up in a healthy environment. Hanford: “But the way they handled it here was terrible.”
Like many others, he has to look for a new job. The question is whether that will work in his home city, which is increasingly in danger of becoming a ghost town.
Big challenges
Tata Steel IJmuiden will face major challenges and decisions about its own greening in 2026. For this purpose, the proposed government subsidy of a maximum of two billion euros is ‘crucial’, says Cinta Groos, chairman of the Central Works Council, in an article on the NH News website tomorrow. A decision will be made this year, but nothing is certain yet.
NH reporters Fred Segaar and Thomas Jak made this documentary in early 2025 about the consequences of greening in Wales with the question in the back of their minds: will this also await the IJmond?
See the trailer of the documentary from January of last year here.