What proTerra does

proTerra Umweltschutz- und Managementberatung GmbH Umweltgutachter is a Sulzbach/Saar-based German environmental and management consulting firm founded in 2000 by Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Anton Backes. The company serves industrial and commercial enterprises ("Industrie- und Gewerbeunternehmen") with a horizontal service portfolio spanning environmental consulting, energy management, regulatory compliance, occupational health and safety, fire/explosion protection, plant safety (Anlagensicherheit), permit management (Genehmigungsmanagement), legal compliance, and management systems (ISO 50001, 14001/EMAS, 45001, 26000, 37301). It also operates accredited certification and verification activities — including DAU environmental verifier, DAkkS-accredited greenhouse gas emissions testing, TÜO recognition per EfbV, BLE certification per BioSt-/BioKraft-NachV, and LESS certification — alongside external commissioner placement (waste, fire protection, occupational safety, dangerous goods, water protection, immission control).

The underlying "technology" is non-proprietary in the conventional sense: the firm employs approximately 27 named specialists (engineers, biologists, chemists, lawyers, geographers) and uses the AGENDALAW legal compliance database as its tooling layer. Revenue is generated entirely through professional services engagements priced on a quote/tailored-engagement basis, with dedicated contact persons per service area and acquisition through direct B2B sales, industry events (e.g., E-World Essen), newsletter, and the corporate website. The firm is 85%-owned by TÜV Saarland Holding GmbH (a diversified technical inspection and certification conglomerate), having moved from 30% in 2003 to 85% in 2023, with the remaining stake held by the proTerra Mitarbeiterbeteiligungsgesellschaft founded in 2014. Sole managing director since 2020 is Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Manfred Mateiko. Geographic operations are concentrated in Saarland, Germany.

Name

proTerra

Legal name

proTerra Umweltschutz- und Managementberatung GmbH Umweltgutachter

Website

https://proterra-umwelt.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

proTerra is a German environmental and management consulting firm serving industrial and commercial clients with environmental protection, energy, compliance, occupational safety, plant safety, and accredited certification services. Majority-owned by TÜV Saarland Holding GmbH.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Consulting Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711), Services-Management Services (8741), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Compliance & Permitting (BPAHAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Certification Support (Stage 1/2) & External Audit сопровождение (EUAHAIAF), Environmental Aspects/Impacts Register & Legal Register Development (EUAHAIAD), Air Quality & Emissions Management (BPAHAJAI), Chemical Management & Toxic Substances Compliance (TSCA, REACH, GHS/SDS, PFAS Programs) (EUAHABAE), Operational Controls, SOPs & Environmental Work Instructions (EUAHAIAJ), Compliance Obligations Management (Permits-to-Controls Mapping) (EUAHAIAK)

Keywords

• Environmental consulting services
• Occupational safety consulting
• Energy management consulting
• Emissions verification services
• Environmental certification services

Headquarters

HQ city

Sulzbach

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Environmental and Management Consulting: Professional consulting services including environmental advice, energy management, compliance, occupational health and safety, and plant safety. Services are tailored to client needs and delivered by specialized interdisciplinary teams.
2. Testing, Certification, and Expert Witness Services: Accredited certification and verification services including DAU environmental verifier organization, DAkkS accredited testing facility for greenhouse gas emissions trading, TÜO certification for disposal companies, LESS certification body, expert witness services for various technical areas.
3. External Commissioner Services: Placement of external commissioners (waste, fire protection, occupational safety, dangerous goods, water protection, immission control, major accident prevention) for industrial and commercial clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

proTerra Umweltschutz- und Managementberatung GmbH Umweltgutachter is a German management and environmental consulting firm that delivers specialized advisory, auditing, testing, certification, and expert witness services covering environmental protection, energy management, regulatory compliance, occupational health and safety, fire protection, and plant safety for industrial and commercial clients. Its offerings span waste consulting, immission forecasts, permit management, management systems (ISO/EMAS), in-house training, external commissioner placement, and accredited emissions verification under EU-ETS (European Union Emissions Trading System) and BEHG (Brennstoffemissionshandelsgesetz / German Fuel Emissions Trading Act). The firm also operates as an accredited DAU (Deutsche Akkreditierungs- und Zulassungsgesellschaft für Umweltgutachter) environmental verifier, DAkkS (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle) testing laboratory, and TÜO (Technische Überwachungsorganisation) technical monitoring organization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AGENDALAW: Legal compliance database module used by proTerra for legal research and compliance management services.

Products and services

• Waste Consulting (Abfallberatung) Consulting for waste management covering waste prevention, waste separation, legal compliance audits, disposal concepts, optimization potential analysis, and provision of external waste officers for industrial and commercial clients.
• Plant Safety (Anlagensicherheit) Plant safety consulting covering compliance with Störfallverordnung (disturbance regulation), accident prevention concepts, safety reports, emergency plans, safety management systems, and risk analyses for industrial facilities.
• Occupational Health and Safety (Arbeits- und Gesundheitsschutz) Occupational safety and health protection consulting including ASiG (Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz / German Occupational Safety Act) safety specialists, risk assessments, workplace inspections, employee training, and occupational safety management system implementation.
• Fire Protection (Brandschutz) Fire protection services including fire protection concepts, evacuation plans, fire brigade plans, escape and rescue plans, fire protection officer placement, and explosion protection documentation.
• Energy Consulting (Energieberatung) Energy consulting including BAFA (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle) energy consulting for SMEs (small and medium enterprises), SpaEfV certification, KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) energy efficiency programs, KWK (Kraft-Wärme-Kopplung / combined heat and power) expert opinions, and primary energy factor determination.
• Permit Management (Genehmigungsmanagement) Environmental permit management including preparation of approval applications, expert opinions, immission forecasts, environmental impact assessments, and regulatory compliance support for industrial facilities.
• Environmental Impact Assessments (Umweltverträglichkeitsuntersuchungen) Environmental impact assessments including environmental reports, preliminary screenings, baseline measurements, protection target analysis, and flora-fauna-habitat assessments for projects requiring environmental clearance.
• Operational Management Systems (Betriebliches Management / Managementsysteme) Management system consulting and implementation including ISO 50001 energy management, ISO 14001 and EMAS environmental management, ISO 45001 occupational safety, ISO 26000 sustainability, and ISO 37301 compliance management systems.
• External Commissioner Services (Beauftragtenwesen) External commissioner placement for waste management, fire protection, occupational safety, dangerous goods, water protection, immission control, and plant safety functions, providing required statutory officers to industrial and commercial clients.
• Testing, Certification and Expert Witness Services (Prüf-, Zertifizierungs- und Sachverständigenleistungen) DAkkS-accredited testing and certification including greenhouse gas emissions verification under BEHG and EU-ETS, Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) and Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) validation, EEG (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz / German Renewable Energy Sources Act) and KWKG (Kraft-Wärme-Kopplungsgesetz / Combined Heat and Power Act) expert opinions, EfbV (Entsorgungsfachbetriebeverordnung / Waste Management Specialist Company Ordinance) certification, and expert witness services for technical areas.
• Legal Compliance Consulting Legal compliance consulting for statutory requirements including obligation transfer, employee training, regulation compilation, and internal responsibility allocation, supported by the AGENDALAW legal database.
• In-house Training (Inhouse-Schulungen) Customized in-house training sessions for client employees on environmental, safety, and compliance topics, delivered by proTerra's team of specialists.
• LESS Certification Body (LESS-Zertifizierungsstelle) Authorized certification body for the Low Emission Steel Standard (LESS), enabling proTerra to certify steel producers and processors against the LESS standard for low-emission steel production.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• NABU Saar (Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Since 2013, proTerra has partnered with NABU Saar through tree sponsorship to compensate for CO2 emissions and support regional biodiversity. The partnership involves the 'Wertvoller Wald durch Alt- und Totholz' (Valuable Forest through Old and Deadwood) project, taking trees out of commercial use to preserve habitat trees. ProTerra has sponsored over 100 trees since 2013.
• Umwelt- und Klimapakt SaarcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Since end of 2011, proTerra has been a member of the Umwelt- und Klimapakt Saar (Environmental and Climate Pact of Saarland). Partners include employer and employee associations represented by various Saarland business associations, and the Saarland state government. The pact promotes active environmental protection as a core company principle.
• Gemeinde TholeyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal municipality partner for the NABU tree sponsorship project at Schaumberg, where most of proTerra's sponsored trees are located.
• LENKUNGSGREMIUM (Steering Committee)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe steering committee of TÜV Saarland Certification GmbH and proTerra Umweltschutz- und Managementberatung GmbH, indicating a structured governance and strategic coordination mechanism between the two organizations.
• Deutsche Akkreditierungs- und Zulassungsgesellschaft für Umweltgutachter mbH (DAU)coreOthersDAU granted proTerra recognition as an environmental verifier organization (Zulassungsnr. DE-V-0309) since 2010, enabling them to conduct verifications under EMAS.
• Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS)coreOthersDAkkS has accredited proTerra as a testing facility for verification of greenhouse gas emissions reports under national (BEHG) and European (EU-ETS) emissions trading systems.
• IONOSminorOthersWebsite hosting provider for proterra-umwelt.de. IONOS SE provides hosting services and data processing under a data processing agreement.
• Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)minorOthersNewsletter service provider used for email marketing communications. Brevo GmbH provides newsletter distribution and analysis services.
• CCM19 (Papoo Software & Media GmbH)minorOthersCookie consent management platform used to obtain and document consent for cookie usage in compliance with GDPR.
• IHK SaarlandminorOthersChamber of Commerce and Industry of Saarland that awarded proTerra the family-friendly company certification in 2023.
• SURE-EUminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInformation event held in Luxembourg regarding sustainability certification services provided by SURE-EU in collaboration with proTerra.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• GUTcert (AFNOR Group): Berlin-based environmental verifier and ISO/EMAS certification body; the closest direct peer in Germany offering EMAS validation, ISO 14001/50001 certification, and carbon footprint verification to industrial clients.
• DQS (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Zertifizierung von Managementsystemen): Major German management systems certification body offering ISO 14001, 50001, 45001, and related EHS/ESG certifications — overlapping directly with proTerra's management system and certification portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• TÜV SÜD: Global TÜV conglomerate offering environmental, energy, and safety testing, inspection, and certification across all industries. Overlaps with proTerra's portfolio at a much broader geographic and service-line scale.
• TÜV Rheinland: One of the world's largest TIC companies providing EHS consulting, ISO certifications, and emissions verification. Competitor in the same accreditation-driven certification market.
• DEKRA: Global testing, inspection, and certification organization with extensive environmental, occupational safety, and management system certification services overlapping with proTerra's scope.
• Bureau Veritas Germany: International TIC group operating in Germany with ISO/EMAS certification, GHG verification, and EHS advisory services that directly overlap proTerra's accredited service lines.
• TÜV NORD: German TÜV organization providing environmental, energy, and safety certification and consulting; competes with proTerra especially in industrial and energy-sector mandates.
• Arcadis Germany: Global design and consultancy firm with a German environmental consulting practice covering permitting, impact assessments, and compliance — adjacent competitor in the regulatory and EHS advisory space.
• Ramboll Germany: International engineering and consulting group with a sizable German environmental, energy, and sustainability consulting practice that competes for industrial EHS and ESG mandates.

Emerging players

• Öko-Institut: Independent applied research institute working on environmental, energy, and sustainability topics with consulting spillovers; comparable on environmental compliance expertise though primarily research-oriented.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about proTerra