Top 10 Waste-to-Energy startups

Updated: February 08, 2024

Waste-to-energy startups are actively working on developing cutting-edge technologies, such as anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, and gasification, to efficiently convert various types of waste materials into clean and renewable energy sources, mitigating environmental pollution while promoting a circular economy.
1
Country: New Zealand | Funding: $1B
By recycling carbon from industrial off-gases; syngas generated from any biomass resource (e.g. municipal solid waste (MSW), organic industrial waste, agricultural waste); and reformed biogas, LanzaTech can reduce emissions and make new products for a circular carbon economy.
2
Country: Canada | Funding: $871.5M
Enerkem is a cleantech company transforming waste into transportation biofuels, renewable chemicals and everyday products.
3
Country: USA | Funding: $430M
Vanguard Renewables is a national leader in the development of organics-to-renewable energy projects.
4
Country: USA | Funding: $281.2M
Fulcrum Bioenergy converts household garbage into low-carbon transportation fuels, including jet fuel, diesel, and ethanol.
5
Country: Spain | Funding: $168.2M
Plastic Energy offers a sustainable solution to help prevent plastic pollution by transforming previously unrecyclable plastic waste into and optimal feedstock for making clean recycled plastics or alternative law-carbon fuels.
6
Country: USA | Funding: $90M
Sierra Energy’s blast furnace heats trash to 4,000 degrees and then harvests the gas to make plastics and fuel.
7
Country: Canada | Funding: $77.4M
Anaergia converts the biogenic portion of organic waste into renewable natural gas for distribution in municipal power grids or for fleet vehicle fuel. Its proprietary technologies are being used in more than 1,600 renewable-energy projects around the world for municipal, industrial, commercial and agricultural markets.
8
Country: Israel | Funding: $71M
Blue Sphere develops waste-to-energy plants that generate biofuels from food and farm waste. These biofuels are then sold to local utility providers that utilize them to power steam turbines for electricity production.
9
Country: Canada | Funding: $40.8M
Nexterra delivers advanced gasification systems to self-generate clean, low cost heat and power using waste fuels.
10
Country: Canada | Funding: $33.4M
Woodland Biofuels develops technology ti produce cellulosic ethanol from waste biomass, such as wood chips and agricultural waste.
11
Country: USA | Funding: $33M
Utility’s hydrogen production systems are based upon our proprietary high-temperature electrolysis processes that convert water into high-purity hydrogen. Our cutting-edge techniques are centered around high-efficiency, environmental-sustainability, and low-cost.
12
Country: Israel | Funding: $32.3M
Homebiogas is anaerobic digesters that convert kitchen waste and animal manure into cooking gas and liquid fertilizer.
13
Country: Germany | Funding: €28.5M
Orcan Energy is a waste heat recovery tech company developing ORC platform technology to produce mechanical energy and electricity.
14
Country: USA | Funding: $28.7M
WasteFuel Agriculture is focusing on ways to create a waste-to-energy infrastructure where farmers can tap new business opportunities.
15
Country: USA | Funding: $22M
Enexor BioEnergy developed a small-scale, renewable energy system that converts organic and biomass waste into clean electricity as well as hot and chilled water. This combined heating and power system has broad applications for commercial, industrial and institutional use.
16
Country: USA | Funding: $21.8M
Raven is a producer of green hydrogen and synthetic fuels using organic waste.
17
Country: Canada | Funding: $20.6M
Moment Energy develops clean, affordable, and reliable energy storage by repurposing retired electric vehicle batteries.
18
Country: USA
Arbor Renewable Gas produces renewable gasoline and hydrogen from waste wood and forest residue.
19
Country: USA | Funding: $20M
M2X Energy has developed a technology to capture methane from gas flare sites and convert it to liquid methanol, which can then be transported and used in low-carbon fuels and other materials.
20
Country: Ethiopia | Funding: $12.8M
Cambridge Industries is developing waste-to-energy projects in emerging market.
21
Country: USA
SGH2's technology uses high-temperature plasma torches to incinerate recycled waste, producing hydrogen as a byproduct.
22
Country: USA | Funding: $7M
Inventure Chemicals develops an ethanol and biodiesel conversion process by using a variety of raw materials including algae and agribusiness waste.
23
Country: USA | Funding: $4.3M
Vespene Energy wants to convert landfill methane emissions to electricity for bitcoin mining. It sequesters methane and burns it to power the microturbines, which in turn generate electricity.
24
Country: USA | Funding: $4.1M
Renewell Energy created a mechatronic conversion system called Artemis Prime as an energy storage solution. This "fancy regenerative winch" aims to take inactive oil and gas wells that leak pollutants and use them for energy storage.
25
Country: USA | Funding: $2.5M
Ways2H develops technology to convert waste into clean hydrogen fuel. Wasy2H takes waste, that does not contain metal or glass, anything from medical supplies, wood or even plastic litter, and through a patented thermochemical process (not burning), converts it into a gas, from which it then extracts the hydrogen.
26
Country: India | Funding: ₹197M
Ossus uses waste carbon in industrial effluents as the starting material for green hydrogen. The startup has developed an AI-powered, intelligent bioreactor.
27
Country: UK | Funding: $2.1M
SEaB Energy manufactures compact, easy-to-install, turnkey Anaerobic Digestion (AD) systems in shipping containers that turn organic waste into energy exactly at the point where the waste is produced and the energy is required.
28
Country: Spain | Funding: $2M
CleanCarbon.io uses a state-of-the-art UHTG (ultra-high-temperature gasification) process combined with IoT smart sensors. CleanCarbon turns waste into e.g. syngas, which subsequently is processed into clean carbon, green hydrogen, and much-needed and sought-after energy products by the industry, and public and private households. CleanCarbon innovates to simplify waste management, giving islands, municipalities, and businesses back time, money, and resources — while helping the environment, reducing waste and emission gases. As a company, CleanCarbon is involved in accelerating circular and net-zero economies by building green infrastructures that make a real difference. CleanCarbon explained (Video): https://youtu.be/GUZ5_5UfJw4
29
Country: USA | Funding: $1.8M
REVOLUTION Turbine Technologies is developing a compact, emissions-free turbine that generates power using only waste gas pressure.
30
Country: USA | Funding: $1.5M
Ecotone Renewables has developed the “Seahorse”, which reinvents the food and plant waste disposal system, taking food that would otherwise be wasted and turning it into renewable energy and nutrient-rich fertilizer, through the process of anaerobic digestion.
31
Country: Germany | Funding: €1M
ZaaK Technologies is an innovation and technology development start-up company focusing on recycling industrial wastes into high value products. Using patented clean technologies, ZaaK intends to revolutionise building and construction industry with state-of-the-art technologies and high quality products produced from fly ash, a waste by-product from coal-fired power plants.
32
Country: Israel
AgRobics is a renewable energy company that develops advanced anaerobic technology for treating heterogeneous wastewater.
33
Country: USA | Funding: $1M
We build portable, zero-emissions waste-to-energy Plasma Gasifiers that are scalable, modular, and can process between 50-500 tons of MSW, medical waste, hazmat, & convert it to Renewable Energy: Green Hydrogen, various synthetic fuels, & up to 50MW of power.
34
Country: USA
Brightmark is on a mission to "reimagine waste" with its groundbreaking plastic renewal technique. Brightmark collects plastic materials and processes them into pellets through shredding. These pellets are then placed in an oxygen-starved container, providing an eco-friendly alternative as low-grade fuel.
35
Country: USA | Funding: $250K
Khepra uses proprietary technology and excess renewable electricity to break down plastics and agricultural waste.
36
Country: Kenya | Funding: $65K
ProGreen Innovations is a Kenya based Waste to Fuel clean tech company that converts waste plastic into alternative diesel and petrol
37
Country: USA | Funding: $24K
GELF Energy has redesigned the anaerobic digestion process with the development of a system called the Microbial Energy Device, which produces higher quality methane in one-tenth the time, at doubled efficiency, with nature-based carbon capture technology.
38
Country: USA | Funding: $10K
Facet Power’s revolutionary technology is optimized to produce clean, green, high purity streams of hydrogen from biomass and organic waste.
39
Country: USA
No Carbon Air is producing SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel), hydrogen and green power from landfill waste, tires, hazmat, waste coal, garbage, and other waste streams. With the excess power we produce we mine bitcoin for a percentage of the BTC.
40
Country: India
Earth Recycler is a pioneer in providing integrated environmental friendly services, solutions, strongly committed to protecting the environment by improving the communities in which we work and live. Earth Recycler is equipped with a team of professionals who have proven expertise in developing sustainable and cost effective solutions for environmentally concerned clients. Our recycling initiatives are custom designed for various sectors from corporate organizations, educational institutions and residential apartments to the community at large.
41
Country: India
Carbon Masters has developed a bottled bio CNG (compressed natural gas) brand Carbonlites. It is made by converting food and agri wastes into clean renewable energy that can displace LPG for commercial cooking in restaurants and hotels
42
Country: India
Paterson Energy is a waste to energy company that recycles plastic waste into quality plastic oil.
43
Country: India
PolyCycl converts non-recyclable, low-grade mixed waste plastics to petroleum fuels.
44
Country: Australia
Wildfire Energy’s solution converts waste into electricity and hydrogen, with negative carbon emissions.
45
Country: India
Pyrotask Energy in converting various types of plastic waste into industrial fuel
46
Country: USA
EthosGen develops eco-friendly, renewable energy systems by converting waste heat into renewable energy or by developing solar projects.
47
Country: USA
ZrO Waste Group is in the process of developing a technology that will help customers convert waste into usable energy in the forms of heating, cooling, refrigeration, hot water and electricity
48
Country: Switzerland
UNIWASTEC is a technology company that operates in the field of waste-to-energy production, namely Grade 5 green hydrogen directly from wastewater, synthetic gas from municipal or industrial solid waste, and synthetic catalytic fuels from biomass.
49
Country: Israel
Boson’s Hydrogen-capable Plasma Assisted Gasification technology (HPAG) produces Hydrogen for direct local use from a wide range of non-recyclable solid wastes by applying high-temperature thermochemical recycling.
50
Country: Kenya
Mega Gas Alternative Energy converts plastic waste into clean and affordable cooking gas for low-income families in Africa.