EEW and GEA launch strategic partnership for CO₂ capture

EEW Energy from Waste (EEW) and machine and plant manufacturer GEA have agreed a strategic partnership for CO₂ capture. The aim of the collaboration is to test innovative processes for capturing and utilizing CO₂ under real-life conditions and to further develop them for industrial-scale application.

As a first step, EEW has acquired a mobile test plant from GEA. The plant will be used at various EEW locations from summer 2025, initially in Delfzijl in the Netherlands. The plant will provide practical insights into the efficiency, scalability and integration of CO₂ capture into existing thermal waste recycling processes.

"Together, we are focusing on state-of-the-art technologies for CO₂ capture in order to pave the way for large-scale implementation," says Dr. Joachim Manns, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the EEW Group. "The test plant acquired as part of the cooperation is a decisive step towards increasing energy efficiency, relieving the burden on plants and increasing the technological maturity of carbon capture solutions. In this way, we are creating the basis for consistently implementing our decarbonization strategy."

Dr. Felix Ortloff, Senior Director Carbon Capture Solutions at GEA: “With the new test plant and the technology used, we are supporting EEW in its decarbonization goal and on the path to achieving it. CO₂ capture plays a central role in this.”

EEW calls for political framework: "Politicians must now deliver"

While EEW is investing in technology and partnerships, the reliable regulatory framework in Germany is still lacking. Although CO₂ capture is technologically viable, large-scale projects remain impossible without legal clarity on the transportation, storage, use and remuneration of CO₂."We are in the starting blocks. But we need clear rules to get started," emphasizes Dr. Manns. "The new federal government must deliver now: We need a regulatory framework that enables economically viable investment in the construction and operation of CO₂ capture, a CO₂ pipeline network, planning security for investments and start-up funding to reduce risk for the first pioneering projects." Thermal waste utilization can make a significant contribution to carbon management - especially because more than half of EEW emissions are of biogenic origin. If this CO₂ is captured and stored, negative emissions are produced that are essential for achieving national climate targets.

Carbon capture solutions from GEA

With carbon capture, GEA offers complete solutions ranging from gas purification and heat extraction as well as downstream CO₂ separation to liquefaction, which significantly reduce CO₂ emissions (end-to-end solutions). There are options for decoupling thermal energy that make it possible, for example, to produce electricity yourself in order to reduce your own consumption and thus further reduce your carbon footprint. It also makes sense to use the decoupled thermal energy in the carbon capture process to make the process more efficient. Carbon capture solutions also offer the possibility of converting CO₂  emissions into valuable products such as raw alcohols, especially methanol, or other precursors for the chemical industry (CCU, Carbon Capture Utilization). There is also the possibility of storing captured CO₂ (CCS, Carbon Capture Storage). A combination of storage and conversion into valuable primary products for the plastics and pharmaceutical industries is also possible (CCUS, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage). GEA offers a high degree of modularization in the carbon capture sector with standardized plant capacities that can be adapted to the industry-specific requirements of different emitters.