Carbon Capture: How Waste-to-Energy Cuts CO2
How does carbon capture work at a waste-to-energy plant? Jörn Jakob and Eike Diedecke (EEW) explain the Delfzijl CO2 pilot and what scaling needs to happen.
Incineration in the Circular Economy
What happens to the waste that can’t be recycled? In Germany alone, thermal treatment plants process over 25 million tonnes of residual waste per year, generating electricity, district heating, and steam in the process. Yet most people outside the waste industry have little idea how this works, or why it matters for the circular economy.
Even when meeting the EU’s target recycling rate of 65%, roughly a third of Germany’s municipal waste cannot be materially recovered and requires thermal treatment.
In our new series Incineration in the Circular Economy, produced in partnership with NEEW Ventures, we’ll take a closer look at the waste-to-energy industry step by step across six episodes.
The series covers how an incineration plant works, carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects at operating plants, battery storage systems that make waste-to-energy plants flexible grid participants, and the sustainability metrics and reporting frameworks, such as the EU taxonomy and green bonds, that shape the industry’s future.
Each episode connects one part of the incineration process to the broader circular economy. Our guests are:
- Philipp Böhm, Managing Director at NEEW Ventures, on how a waste-to-energy plant operates from waste delivery to energy output
- Sebastian Siewers, Head of Energy Trading, EEW Energy from Waste, on district heating, process steam, and battery storage as outputs of waste incineration
- Benedict von Spankeren, Founder of Wasteer, on AI-based waste composition analysis that reduces emissions and treatment costs
- Jörn Jakob, Head of Innovation, EEW Energy from Waste, on carbon capture and storage at waste incineration plants, including the CCS pilot project at the EEW-Delfzijl site
- Fabian Böhmer,Team Leader Sustainability, EEW Energy from Waste, on sustainability KPIs, EU Taxonomy, ESG governance, and Green Bonds for thermal treatment operators
- Florian Fehr, Managing Director at NEEW Ventures, on trends and innovation from IFAT 2026
About NEEW Ventures:
NEEW Ventures is a venture builder and subsidiary of EEW Energy from Waste, one of the market leaders for thermal waste treatment in Germany.
Founded in 2021 in Berlin, NEEW Ventures builds startups that use data, AI, and digital tools to create value from waste. Its portfolio includes Wasteer, which uses AI-based waste composition analysis to cut emissions and operating costs at incineration plants, Minimise, a digital traceability platform for e-waste recycling, and ReCircle Impact, an AI-based solution that transforms into sustainable value. NEEW Ventures also runs the Circularity Hub for startups, researchers, and industry professionals, and the Waste & AI Hub (WAIH), connecting AI experts with waste industry operators.
Find out more at: neew-ventures.com
About EEW:
EEW Energy from Waste GmbH (EEW) is a leading company in the circular economy. At 17 locations in Europe, we recycle more than 5 million tons of waste and sewage sludge every year – and turn it into energy and valuable raw materials. We supply around 700,000 households with electricity. In doing so, we make an active contribution to climate and resource protection. With more than 1,500 employees, we are committed to using waste energy efficiently, reducing the volume of waste, lowering CO2 emissions and closing material cycles. In addition to the thermal recycling of municipal waste, EEW also operates specialized plants for the mono-incineration of sewage sludge – an important step towards phosphorus recycling. Our sustainability strategy includes CO₂ capture, energy efficiency and the development of future-proof technologies.
Episodes
4 episodes in this series
Waste as a Resource: How Data and AI Cut Recycling Costs
A waste-to-energy plant shutdown costs 90 to 250K per day. Benedict von Spankeren on how Wasteer's AI turns waste-stream data into circular plant economics.
Waste Incineration: Its Role in Circular Economy
Flexibility is the new base load. Sebastian Siewers on how EEW turns waste-to-energy into demand-driven dispatch as Germany pushes 400 GW of renewables.
Waste Incineration: How Waste-to-Energy Really Works
Where does waste-to-energy fit in the circular economy? Philipp Böhm on how EEW's Premnitz plant turns 300,000 tons a year into electricity, heat, and steam.