Scaling Carbon Removal: Vaulted’s Vision for Waste-Based Removals

Vaulted Deep is transforming how we think about waste and carbon removal—by turning some of our most challenging organic waste streams into a durable form of carbon removal. A member of the Carbon Business Council, Vaulted recently earned recognition in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, taking home $8 million to accelerate its growth. In this Q&A, Vaulted Co-Founder & CEO Julia Reichelstein shares how their waste-to-storage approach works, what winning the XPRIZE means for their future, and how they’re scaling responsibly while delivering real benefits for communities and the planet.

Vaulted is one of many Carbon Business Council members leading the charge on carbon removal—and demonstrating what it looks like in practice. Explore the 100+ member companies driving economic growth around the world. The Carbon Business Council is publishing a content series spotlighting winners of XPRIZE Carbon Removal, a $100 million prize for removals companies.

Can you describe your carbon removal solution and what sets it apart?

Vaulted is a dual waste management solution, addressing challenging waste while removing carbon from the atmosphere. We take organic waste, such as biosolids, paper mill sludge, and agricultural byproducts, that would otherwise pollute our land, air, and water, and inject it deep underground—multiple Empire State buildings deep—into existing geological formations.

This method is grounded in decades of proven oil and gas technology, allowing us to safely store excess waste while removing carbon from the atmosphere. We believe this is where waste ends and carbon removal begins.

What major breakthroughs or milestones did you achieve during the XPRIZE competition?

The XPRIZE competition helped us refine Vaulted’s model, strengthen our growth strategy, and test key aspects of our approach. Being named a finalist and runner-up provided crucial validation, helping us close $32 million in Series A and accelerate conversations with interested buyers and partners. During the demonstration phase, Vaulted removed nearly 10,000 tonnes of carbon—about 10X the required tonnage—proving the scalability and effectiveness of our solution. Winning the XPRIZE has energized us, validating our progress and giving us the momentum to grow even faster.

How will these funds help scale your solution or business model?

We are laser-focused on getting tons in the ground this decade, and the $8M prize will help us dramatically increase our carbon removal capacity. These funds will help us expand our team—particularly in site development, regulatory compliance, and local engagement—so we can speed up permitting, bring new projects online faster, and deepen our operational reach.

Do you have any examples or projections of how increased R&D will enable scale or reduce removal costs?

Our R&D is focused on improving waste preprocessing and slurry injection technology to boost efficiency and lower costs. For example, enhancing preprocessing reduces energy use and increases our overall CDR efficiency. Vaulted’s system is already highly efficient—requiring less than 0.14 gigajoules per tonne of CO₂ removed—because we can handle solid organic waste directly, without converting it into pure CO₂. As we scale, additional improvements will reduce per-tonne costs and allow us to process more diverse and higher volumes of waste.

What does “scaling responsibly” look like in your corner of the carbon removal ecosystem?

For Vaulted, growing responsibly means creating infrastructure that delivers real benefits for communities while maintaining safety, environmental protection, and sustainability. Our approach uses proven, low-energy technology that leverages existing infrastructure and regulatory frameworks to expand safely and efficiently. We engage local communities early on, ensuring the jobs and economic benefits we create align with their needs. Safety, community input, and environmental stewardship remain the core principles as we scale.

Can you share any examples of working successfully with local communities around deployment?

Waste is an opportunity to put money into pockets where we operate—whether it’s through an upskilling job at our facilities, payments to landowners for well siting, or being a local trucking partner or equipment operator in our vendor support network.​ At our Great Plains facility in Kansas, Vaulted has already diverted 60,000 tonnes of waste, invested over $5M in the local economy, and created 18 full-time jobs in just 18 months. We’ve worked closely with local stakeholders to address the community’s waste management challenges and make sure that our work delivers both economic and environmental benefits. We’re excited to keep building more community success stories at our future sites.

How does — or could — your solution benefit other industries or local communities?

Today, more than one billion tons of unusable organic waste in the U.S. is going to landfills, potentially contaminating local environments and releasing greenhouse gases like methane and CO₂. Vaulted’s solution gives sectors like agriculture, municipalities, and industrial operators a safe, scalable alternative to land application, landfilling, or incineration. Communities reap the benefits: cleaner air, water, and land, as well as new job opportunities and economic growth.

What role do – or could – partnerships play in your success?

Partnerships are key to Vaulted’s ability to scale. We collaborate with waste providers for consistent feedstock, regulators to navigate permitting, and local communities to ensure our projects align with their needs. Working with industry leaders in agriculture and waste management helps us leverage existing infrastructure and expand into new markets, enabling us to scale our waste management and carbon removal solutions efficiently and effectively.

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