Focus on CO₂ capture in waste incineration plants

Augsburg, 9 July 2024

A session organised by the bifa Environmental Institute and the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment at IFAT analysed how thermal waste treatment plants can contribute to net greenhouse gas neutrality.
The capture of CO₂ from waste incineration plants is currently the subject of intense discussion among experts. There is agreement that a number of technical, economic and legal challenges must be overcome. This was also the subject of an IFAT panel event organised by the bifa Umweltinstitut, Augsburg, and the Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection.

The discussion covered technical processes such as amine scrubbing, potash scrubbing and the oxyfuel concept, as well as aspects of European and national law. One of the key messages of the event was that the capture and provision of CO₂ from modern waste incineration plants can be seen as an opportunity for a carbon cycle economy. There are still numerous tasks to be solved on the way to achieving this, such as the further development of capture processes, increasing energy efficiency and the availability of renewable energies, as well as logistics solutions for CO2.

The following took part in the expert discussion: Mr Robert Winkler, Assistant Secretary, Head of the Climate Protection, Policy and Sustainability Department at the Bavarian State Ministry, Dr Ragnar Warnecke, Chairman of the Board of ITAD (Interessengemeinschaft der Thermischen Abfallbehandlungsanlagen in Deutschland e.V.) and Managing Director of GKS-Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Schweinfurt, Dr Wolfram Dietz, Project Manager at the bifa Environmental Institute, and Dr Ling He from the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA).
The full rows and around 160 participants showed a high level of interest in the topic.