Co-Processing: The Best Solution When Plastic Recycling Fails | Axel Pieters

Burning plastic sounds wrong. But what if the real problem isn’t plastic — it’s the fact that half the world isn’t connected to waste collection at all? In this episode, Axel Pieters — former executive at GeoCycle, one of the world’s largest waste treatment companies — explains co-processing: how cement kilns use waste as fuel at extremely high temperatures, leaving zero residue behind. We talk about: Why landfills may be the real climate villain Why technology isn’t the bottleneck — money is The economics of waste in developing countries Lock-in effects and investment risks Why zero waste is unrealistic And why solving plastic pollution requires funding operations — not just building infrastructure This is a grounded, practical look at what it actually takes to manage waste at scale. If you want climate realism instead of slogans, this episode is for you.