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The Emscher () is a river, a tributary of the Rhine, that flows through the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. Its overall length is with a mean outflow near the mouth into the lower Rhine of .
At the centre of a vast industrial area with 5 million inhabitants the river was biologically dead, as it was used as an open waste-water canal from the end of the 19th century. The subsidence caused by coal mining along its route made the option of subterranean sewer pipes running alongside unworkable, as they would break each time the ground shifted.
Owing to the steady flow of spoil from the mining industry it has been impossible for the route of the Emscher to be maintained and its mouth into the Rhine has shifted north twice. A large wastewater treatment plant at its mouth treats the water of the Emscher before it flows into the Rhine.
The Emscher renaturation project, which is funded by a total of €1.3 billion in European Union bank finance, protects and generates 1400 jobs per year.
While the river was not returned to its historical path, it now supports some fish and other wildlife. It has been turned into a recreation spot, with extensive cycle paths.
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