Swiss Cleantech businesses have expertise in the following areas:
- Detection, analysis, mapping of contamination
- Remediation
- Soil treatment facilities
- Disposal of environmentally hazardous waste
- Dismantling of buildings and plant
Brownfield sites turn green
Novartis, Roche, Syngenta, Clariant, Lonza: the Swiss chemicals industry is one of the strongest competitors in the global marketplace. The production of well-known medicines, additives and other synthetic materials generates waste which, in the past, was not disposed of appropriately. Since the 1990s, the chemicals industry and public sector bodies have been examining this residual contamination in great detail, analyzing the content of old deposits of toxic waste, monitoring the quality of ground water and putting in place remediation strategies tailored to each particular site and its issues. A further factor is that, since 2000, waste from residential areas can no longer be placed in landfills but has to be incinerated and used to generate energy. The experience gained in this field over a number of years has led to the creation of a remarkable cluster of specialist companies which provide professional solutions for managing the disposal of contaminated material. The need to monitor and clean up landfills containing both residential and industrial and commercial waste poses an additional challenge. Switzerland was also quick to react to the dangers of asbestos: the production, sale and import of products containing asbestos has been banned since 1990.
Private property owners also routinely figure alongside commercial developers and the public sector as clients for this sort of service. Demand for Swiss expertise in this arena is also increasingly coming from abroad. After all, these specialists in decontamination and remediation ensure land is made fit for building on and remove the risk of unpleasant surprises.
