Baden-Württemberg offers the best geographical conditions for the environmental technology sector. The south-west is the leading area in the whole of Germany for process technology with the core sectors of mechanical engineering and plant construction. It has excellent facilities for research and development and the highest industrial density in the world, as well as a high concentration of environmental technology enterprises.

In Baden-Württemberg there are over 800 businesses whose goods and services, including construction, have specialised exclusively in environmental protection. This sector in the region achieves turnover of more than 4.1 billion Euros with over 15,000 employees. The environmental specialists in the south-west achieve the second highest turnover and in doing so underline the leading position of the environmental technology area of Baden-Württemberg.

Within the various disciplines of environmental technology, the “clean air” sector dominates in particular in Baden-Württemberg. Enterprises in the region have specialised in emission reduction techniques and in particular in systems for cleaning car emissions.

A multitude of promotional initiatives by the region also contribute to the high and constantly increasing importance of the whole environmental technology sector, such as the BWPLUS promotional programme (Baden-Württemberg Livelihood Programme: the environment and securing it) or the technology prize for the environment awarded annually by the Ministry of the Environment. The region is pursuing in particular the goal of promoting projects concerned with application- orientated environmental research and innovative products in environmental technology in a targeted way, and supporting these.