June 10, 2025
The 2022 CO2 shortage forced breweries to review their dependency on global supply chains. Many were forced to close, unable to carbonate their products. At its breweries in Germany, OeTTINGER GETRÄNKE is turning its own CO2 into a powerful lever for independence and sustainability – with the help of CO2 recovery technology from GEA.
Sabareesh Gopalakrishnan
Head of Production, OeTTINGER GETRÄNKE
Siegfried Hanisch
Sustainability Manager, OeTTINGER GETRÄNKE
The CO2 shortage of 2022 exposed many breweries to the risks of external dependencies. But as Klaus Bonfig, Director of GEA’s CO2 Recovery Competence Center, puts it: “Breweries already have a high-quality CO2 source built into their process. Our technology helps them unleash that potential – efficiently and precisely.”
Today, CO2 recovery is more relevant than ever. Rising raw material prices have made self-sufficiency, supply security and cost control vital levers for resilience. GEA’s systems can be retrofitted at existing breweries with minimal disruption – just like in Oettingen, where modern recovery technology was integrated into the existing plant without pausing production.
“Breweries already have a high-quality CO2 source built into their process,” explains Klaus Bonfig, Director, GEA CO2 Recovery Competence Center. Integration into the broader energy system can further reduce operating costs and emissions. (Photo: GEA/Sommer & Co. GmbH)
The benefits of CO2 recovery go beyond gas capture. When integrated into broader energy systems, the CO2 evaporation process can support pre-cooling as well as support refrigeration loops. Heat generated during compression can also be reused. “With these added steps, we lower both operational costs and the brewery’s CO2 footprint,” says Bonfig.
GEA has implemented CO2 recovery projects in 35 countries across four continents – from capturing 3.5 million kilograms of CO2 per year at Sweden’s Spendrups Brewery, to deploying the world’s largest and most compact recovery systems in the U.S.
Siegfried Hanisch
Sustainability Manager, OeTTINGER GETRÄNKE
The principles behind OeTTINGER’s system are applicable beyond brewing. As Hanisch puts it: “We need to think in loops – not just for products, but also in our processes.”
GEA already utilizes CO2 recovery in several other customer industries:
“Across industries, the pressure is growing – not just to reduce carbon, but to treat it as a resource,” says Bonfig. “GEA is making it happen.”
OeTTINGER GETRÄNKE proves that decarbonization isn’t just a long-term goal – it’s part of daily business. Family-owned since 1731 and ranked 25th among the world’s largest breweries, OeTTINGER GETRÄNKE exports half of its production from sites in Oettingen, Mönchengladbach, and Braunschweig, Germany. From brewing to bottling, one of Germany’s largest breweries is becoming a model for resilient industrial processes, powered by GEA technology.
“Shrinking beer consumption means capacities must be adjusted. And it’s not just a German issue,” says Gopalakrishnan. “The beer market is consolidating. But OeTTINGER GETRÄNKE will endure, because we keep evolving.