greenCHEM Hackathon
Ideation meets Innovation in Green Chemistry
Tackle a real challenge from industry
The 2025 greenCHEM Hackathon features NEEW Ventures, the venture builder of EEW - Energy from Waste, Germany’s leading waste incineration company. They are creating a world of endless resources by transforming waste into value through startups, AI-powered waste innovation, and cross-sector collaboration to advance circular solutions.
NEEW Ventures
NEEW Ventures is the venture builder of EEW Energy from Waste, Germany’s leading waste incineration company. Their mission is to create a world of endless resources. They work towards this through the power of business, technology, and community: by building and supporting startups that turn waste into value, by accelerating innovation in waste incineration through AI, and by connecting experts across sectors to drive forward new circular solutions.
What to expect:
Industry
Help industry partners solve their most pressing sustainability challenges
Interdisciplinary team
Brainstorm and shape ideas with other students and researcher from multiple backgrounds
Mentorship
Get guidance from mentors with real world experience
Pitch training
Learn pitching techniques to have a big impact on your audience
Prizes
Compete to win a cash prize up to 3000€ and the possibility to continue cooperating with our partners
Prototype
Use digital tools and creative methods to prototype and model your concepts
Challenges
A – Turning captured CO₂ into climate solutions
The climate crisis isn’t just about reducing emissions — it’s also about capturing the CO₂ we still produce and finding smart ways to use it. NEEW Ventures' parent company, EEW – Energy from Waste, generates electricity and heat from waste and is currently testing CO₂ capture at one of its incineration plants. But there’s a problem: capturing CO₂ costs energy and money.
Your challenge: Imagine new, practical, and scalable ways to make use of this captured CO₂ so it benefits the climate and the economy. Your ideas could help close the carbon cycle and make waste-to-energy plants even more sustainable.
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1. What we are looking for:
We want solutions that:
Make captured CO₂ useful in a way that offsets or reduces the cost and energy used to capture it
Fit the waste-to-energy context — either on-site at the plant or in the surrounding region
Are scalable and realistic, with potential for circular use of carbon
2. Possible directions - starting points:
You can take the challenge in many directions, for example:
a. Turning CO₂ into products (CCU)
Building materials – e.g., turning CO₂ into stone-like materials (mineralization)
Carbon-based products – such as fuels, plastics, or other materials
Industrial applications – where CO₂ from renewables replaces fossil carbon
b. Creating services
Carbon credits – systems that reward CO₂ reuse and storage
Quality checks & certification – ensuring CO₂-based products meet standards
Data & analytics – tracking and reporting CO₂ usage
c. Storage solutions (CCS)
Safe and efficient ways to store CO₂ for future use
d. Other ideas
On-site reuse – for plant processes like pH control, or creating heat or cooling
Local partnerships – using CO₂ in nearby greenhouses, the food & beverage industry, or for producing synthetic fuels (e-fuels)
Low-energy processing – making CO₂ easier to transport or use (e.g., separating it with membranes or distilling it to remove impurities)
Small-scale testing – simulation models or modular systems to trial new CO₂ uses without needing huge investment
3. Approaches not of interest:
Uses that require extremely pure CO₂ (waste-to-energy CO₂ isn’t ultra-pure)
Ideas with no clear pathways for reaching the market
Solutions that need huge amounts of energy but give very little CO₂ benefit
Concepts where EEW would have to become the sole producer of CO₂ products — EEW should be a supplier or partner, not the only seller
4. Why this matters - sustainability impact:
EEW produces 5 million tonnes of CO₂ every year — about half of it from renewable (biogenic) sources. If we find smart ways to use that CO₂, we can:Replace fossil carbon with recovered CO₂
Create “closed cycles” where CO₂ is reused again and again
Make inroads towards net negative emissions by using the renewable CO₂ fraction and other techniques
Open new opportunities in local economies and carbon markets
Your idea could be part of the solution — whether it’s a product, a service, a technology, or a creative collaboration. Chemists and engineers can develop CO₂ conversion and storage technologies, while environmental scientists assess impacts. Data experts can model systems, and business or policy students can shape market and regulatory pathways. Designers and communicators can make solutions clear and appealing. Together, these perspectives can turn captured CO₂ into a driver of climate action.
B – Giving Fly Ash a second life
When waste is burned in an incinerator, not everything disappears. One byproduct is fly ash (MSWIFA) — a fine powder that contains concentrated pollutants from the burned waste. It’s tricky to handle and usually ends up as hazardous landfill.
But here’s the twist: fly ash can also contain valuable metals and minerals. If we could safely recover and reuse these materials, fly ash could change from an expensive disposal problem into a valuable resource.
Your challenge: Find safe, scalable, and creative ways to turn fly ash into something useful — whether that means extracting valuable elements, making new products, or finding safe reuse options that reduce environmental harm.
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1. What we are looking for:
We want ideas that:
Recover value from fly ash — metals, minerals, or functional materials
Reduce waste and toxicity so less fly ash ends up in hazardous landfills
Can fit into existing waste-to-energy processes without major disruptions
Consider market demand, regulations, and safety so the idea could be applied in the real world
2. Possible directions - starting points:
You can take the challenge in many directions, for example:
a. Extracting value
Metal recovery – getting zinc, copper, or rare earth elements out using chemical (hydrometallurgy), biological (bioleaching), or electrical (electrochemical) methods
Sorting & concentrating – separating valuable parts of fly ash with magnets, sieves, or density-based techniques
Scanning & analysis – using AI or spectrometry to spot batches with high-value content
b. Turning into products
Construction materials – using fly ash in bricks, tiles, or concrete as a lower-carbon alternative to cement (geopolymerisation)
Blended binders – mixing fly ash with other industrial waste to make new building materials
Catalysts or filters – treating fly ash so it can be used in chemical processes or environmental cleanup
c. Making it safer
Safe encapsulation – locking heavy metals into stable glass or ceramic so they can’t leach into the environment
Better storage – improved landfill or containment methods to cut pollution risks
3. Approaches not of interest:
Anything that skips incineration entirely (the focus is after waste is burned)
Solutions that do not demonstrate economic viability
4. Why this matters - sustainability impact:
Finding new uses for fly ash could:Cut landfill waste and lower disposal costs
Reduce mining by recovering metals and minerals from existing waste streams
Lower CO₂ emissions by replacing carbon-heavy cement with fly ash-based materials
Protect the environment by preventing toxic substances from leaching into soil and water
Your solution could help turn a pollution problem into a sustainable resource — advancing both waste-to-energy innovation and circular economy goals.
Fly ash valorisation needs diverse skills. Chemists and engineers can recover materials or create safe, new products. Environmental scientists can evaluate health and sustainability benefits. Business and policy students can explore markets and regulations, while designers and IT specialists can improve tracking and reuse systems. Interdisciplinary teams can turn a hazardous byproduct into a valuable resource.
C – Recycling/reusing glass-fibre reinforced plastics (GFK) from wind turbines
Wind turbines are great for generating green energy — but what happens when they reach the end of their life? Most parts of a turbine can be recycled easily… except for the blades. These blades are made of glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GFK) — a strong, lightweight material that’s tough to break down and not biodegradable.
In the coming decade, up to 500,000 tonnes of old blades will be retired. Right now, most end up stored or landfilled — a costly and wasteful solution.
Your challenge: Find creative, sustainable, and economically viable ways to recycle, reuse, or repurpose GFK turbine blades so they become a valuable resource rather than a waste problem.
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1. What we are looking for:
We want ideas that:
· Turn decommissioned wind blades into value — new products, materials, or services
· Show how to move from “just storing” old blades to actually processing them profitably
· Consider environmental, technical, and business impacts so the solution is scalable
2. Possible directions - starting points:
You can take the challenge in many directions, for example:
a. Reuse / Repurposing / Upcycling
Transform blades into furniture, benches, playgrounds, or outdoor installations
Cut and shape blades into modular architectural elements for buildings or bridges
Create local reuse networks with cities or industries to give blades a second life nearby
Build digital platforms to match retired blades with upcyclers or designers
Explore product-as-a-service concepts — e.g., leasing upcycled structures made from GFK
b. Mechanical recycling
Shred or grind blades into materials for cement, asphalt, or other composites
Mix processed GFK into low-carbon binders for construction
c. Chemical Recycling
Break down resins and recover glass fibres using chemical processes (e.g., pyrolysis, solvolysis)
Improve incineration processes to handle GFK without the current downsides (residues, breakdowns, flue gas cleaning issues)
3. Approaches not of interest:
· Landfilling or “just store it” approaches
· Solutions with no clear environmental benefit
· Purely theoretical ideas with no potential for real-world testing
5. Why this matters - sustainability impact:
Finding new uses for wind turbine blades can:Prevent massive volumes of non-biodegradable waste from going to landfill
Replace virgin materials like cement, steel, or plastics with recycled GFK
Help decarbonize construction and manufacturing by using waste as feedstock
Create local economic opportunities in recycling and upcycling industries
The challenge is both technical and creative — whether you’re into engineering, chemistry, business, design, or sustainability, there’s a way to contribute. Chemists, engineers, and material scientists can develop mechanical or chemical recycling methods. Designers and architects can reimagine blades as functional products, while business and policy students create viable business models. Environmental experts can track sustainability gains. By combining skills, teams can give turbine blades a profitable second life.
Timeline
Q&A
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You want to try out innovation and see what it feels like
You want to meet people from different backgrounds who care about impact
You want to gain new skills—from systems thinking to storytelling
You want to do something that matters, even if you’re not sure where to start
You’re curious about sustainability, green tech, or entrepreneurship—but haven’t had a chance to explore it yet
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Bachelor’s and Master’s students from any discipline (chemistry, engineering, design, business, art, tech—you name it)
Early-stage researchers with an open mind and a collaborative spirit
No startup idea required. No specific background needed. Just your energy, your brain, and your interest in building something meaningful.
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You can find the Terms and Conditions here.
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All information about the IP conditions, you can find here.
More Questions?
Our Innovation Manager Bruno, is happy to answer your questions.
All ideas are gold!
If you have a green chemistry innovation idea but it doesn’t match with the offered challenges you can apply to kickSTART our idea innovation competition and start your entrepreneurial journey.