South Holland faces a double challenge. The port area is working on phasing out the fossil fuel industry and building a sustainable, circular economy. At the same time, the Westland region is struggling to make greenhouse horticulture more sustainable. Port economist Larissa van der Lugt and industrial ecologist Arnold Tukker explain how these transitions can take shape.
Text by Irene Salverda
What makes the transition to sustainability and circularity so difficult?
Larissa van der Lugt: ‘The region wants to make the transition to a clean and sustainable economy, but faces stiff international competition. The vast majority of activities in the Rotterdam port area revolve around fossil fuels: transit and transhipment, refining, and the chemical industry. More than half of the incoming flows in the port are fossil-based, and petrochemicals and maritime transport also largely run on fossil fuels. This makes the transition to a sustainable economy even more complex – we need space, infrastructure, a lot of green energy and substantial investments.’
Arnold Tukker: ‘The port and horticulture are the two economic engines of South Holland – and both are extremely energy-intensive. We built up these sectors at a time when fossil energy was abundant, but that dependence is now a major disadvantage.’
How should the role of the Rotterdam port area change?
Van der Lugt: ‘We can transform the port from a transit point for fossil raw materials into a hub for clean energy and regional, circular production. Think of hydrogen imports, CO₂ storage and reuse of materials. The space and infrastructure are already here – and that is unique in the Randstad, where space is scarce. That is precisely why we must use ports wisely: as efficient locations with logistical, scale and cluster advantages. This requires more space for the port area, but with a new, sustainable function.
Tukker: ‘There are many elements that argue in favour of this area and make it the perfect place for a transition hub. The space, the infrastructure, the proximity to offshore wind farms and the hinterland, the unique industrial cluster. Europe has hardly any processing capacity for critical raw materials, such as lithium. An area such as the port of Rotterdam offers an interesting option for this refining. The port can continue to play a crucial role in the economy of the future.’
What levers can accelerate these transitions?
Van der Lugt: ‘This region has a fundamental strength that is unique in Europe, namely its petrochemical background and its links with the Port of Antwerp and the Ruhr area. Rotterdam is the hub of this cluster and, together with the rest of the cluster, accounts for around 40 per cent of petrochemical production in Europe. This integrated cluster offers an advantage that you can build on, even if you want to make it cleaner and more sustainable.
Tukker: ‘European legislation such as the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) acts as a powerful driver: companies must provide insight into their environmental impact, which often leads to emission reduction targets. At the same time, sustainability is becoming a strategic theme. But you have to avoid your company getting into trouble or making the wrong investments due to international reduction targets or scarcity of raw materials.'
Create a balance between financing, prohibiting where necessary – such as sulphur emissions from shipping – and providing incentives
Van der Lugt: 'The transition requires a smart mix of policies: a balance between financing, prohibiting where necessary – such as sulphur emissions from shipping – and providing incentives, for example through mandatory blending of clean fuel or financial support for clean technology. And: giving entrepreneurs room to manoeuvre.'
Tukker: 'With the Climate and Nitrogen Fund, we had powerful levers at our disposal. Now that these have been removed, accelerating transitions has become a lot more difficult. Take the port of Rotterdam, for example: for years, it ran on petrochemicals, a sector with a significant climate impact. If we really want to become more sustainable, we have to choose: do we invest in hydrogen and electrification, or do we continue to focus on both tracks and also invest in fossil fuels?
Van der Lugt: 'You may want to make the chemical industry – a crucial sector for both our economy and the energy transition – cleaner and more sustainable, but for the time being, that is not yet competitive.'
Is the recent departure of factories such as LyondellBasell and Gunvor a threat or an opportunity?
Van der Lugt: 'Such a sudden departure is a painful signal, especially when it concerns companies with sustainable ambitions. But it doesn't have to be a showstopper. It is important to realise that companies together form an ecosystem. They need each other. So retain the companies that are essential to the cluster and that together have the power to drive innovation.’
Tukker: ‘We need to think carefully about which activities we want to retain and strengthen here. Not everything is crucial – take fertiliser factories, for example. Fertiliser can probably be imported from friendly countries with better access to green raw materials or energy. I used to do research into clusters of companies in the port. They have an intriguing metabolism and are interconnected. Let's take a strategic look: what is important for our own and European autonomy? What do we really want to retain – think of basic chemicals – and what do we need to innovate? It is important that we retain those companies that can make the transition and that we do not lose important links in the cluster.'
How do you turn the need for sustainability into a virtue that generates profit?
Tukker: ‘One way is through the electrification of processes, which reduces the need for fossil raw materials. But also by redesigning products so that they last longer and are easier to recycle. This also creates new opportunities for recycling-related activities. In a healthy industrial metabolism, one person's waste is another person's raw material – you can base smart choices on this, especially in the chemical industry.
In Rotterdam, for example, hydrochloric acid – a residual product from chemical processes – has been used for years in the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a commonly used plastic for pipes, window frames and floor coverings, among other things. Attract companies that use residual flows in a similar way, and you strengthen the circular ecosystem.'
‘It works the same way in Westland. Energy-intensive greenhouse horticulture needs to move away from gas and reinvent itself. This is already happening: companies are investing in robotisation and exporting their knowledge and expertise in this field, not just their horticultural products.’
What does all this mean for employment?
Van der Lugt: ‘The most important thing for employment is to maintain sufficient economic diversity. Years ago, we made the transition in the port from physical port labour – carrying sacks on our shoulders – to jobs such as crane operator or logistics planner. Now, the work is shifting from operators in fossil fuel installations to technicians in hydrogen, electrification, circular processes and control rooms.
This requires new knowledge and skills. If the economic base in the port and region is sufficiently diversified and can adapt to technological and social changes, you can accommodate that transition with retraining and career advancement. Employment will then move along with the new demand.
Tukker: 'Let's take a critical look at sectors that currently rely on temporary labour migration, such as parts of horticulture. This leads to all kinds of bottlenecks and is unlikely to yield much economic benefit in the long term. Traditional horticulture may then shrink, but advanced, robotised horticulture that exports technology may actually grow. You can manage that transition through retraining and career advancement if you invest in a healthy economic base, such as a resilient, well-educated workforce. And a good mix of jobs at all levels.
How do we maintain support among businesses and residents?
Tukker: 'In processes like this, there are always losers. We have to be honest about that. At the same time, you have to make the benefits tangible: show what it will deliver and ensure that the costs and benefits are distributed fairly.'
Van der Lugt: 'It's all about offering perspective. You don't just want to tell people what's no longer possible, you also want to make it clear where we're going and what it will bring people. If you automate more and more, you replace labour – human capital – with economic capital. The profits from that go to the capital owners. The answer to the question of how we redistribute that fairly is important.'
What is your vision for the future, your wish for the region?
Tukker: 'I hope that we will invest strategically so that we can create a region that is at the forefront of circular innovation internationally. Where economic strength goes hand in hand with ecological sustainability.' Van der Lugt: ‘I agree: a more innovative, cleaner and value-creating South Holland, where port, city and state work together.’
Dr. Larissa van der Lugt is director of the Erasmus Centre for Urban, Port and Transport Economics (Erasmus UPT). She is an expert in port strategy, port management and port economics, and works on sustainable and competitive ports in a changing world.
Prof. Dr. Arnold Tukker is Professor of Industrial Ecology at the Centre for Environmental Sciences at Leiden University. He focuses on the circular economy, sustainable production chains and energy use. Tukker leads international EU projects in the field of sustainable production and consumption and is a visiting professor in Indonesia in the field of sustainable economic development.
This article is from the new Leiden-Delft-Erasmus white paper 'The Economy of South Holland: Earning - Distributing - Changing', which will be published on 15 December 2025. All articles will be published in English on this website.
This paper will be presented at the meeting The Economy of South Holland in the Picture, in the Provincial Government Building in The Hague. From 15 December you can download the paper for free via this website.
