16/07/2026
Today, the first stories from our cross-border investigation into Solvay’s industrial legacy and Europe’s green transition are out in Público and La Via Libera.
With Marta Abba Marta Abbà , Laura Fazzini and Adhik Kandeli Naidu Pérez De Arrilucea, we investigated how the Belgian chemical multinational is being repositioned as a key actor in Europe’s strategic future — while long-standing questions remain about pollution, industrial responsibility and the environmental costs left behind.
In La Via Libera, we focus on Rosignano Solvay, in Tuscany, where the EU-selected Alpha Project aims to recover palladium under the Critical Raw Materials Act. The paradox is stark: one of Europe’s “green transition” projects is being built inside a historic chemical plant that has discharged industrial residues into the sea for more than a century, creating the famous Spiagge Bianche.
In Público, the investigation looks at Solvay’s wider European strategy, including Spain, and asks how a company with a long and contested pollution record is now being supported and rebranded through the language of circular economy, critical raw materials and ecological transition.
What happens when historic polluters become strategic actors of Europe’s green future?
This investigation was supported by Journalismfund Europe.
Links in bio / stories.