German SME converting organic waste and biomass into synthetic fuels and green hydrogen via proprietary thermal catalytic reforming.
Susteen Technologies is a German SME that develops and commercializes Thermal Catalytic Reforming (TCR) — a thermochemical process that converts organic waste and biomass into synthetic liquid fuels and green hydrogen within a single conversion pathway. Their work covers the full production chain: feedstock intake, thermal decomposition, catalytic upgrading via hydro-deoxygenation, and delivery of market-ready fuel products. In the EU-funded TO-SYN-FUEL project, they demonstrated this process at pilot scale alongside a larger international consortium, confirming their role as a technology provider with hands-on scale-up capability. They sit at the intersection of waste valorization, bioenergy, and hydrogen production — a combination that few SMEs have demonstrated at this level.
Both H2020 projects — the SME Instrument Phase 1 feasibility study (TCR, 2016) and the full Innovation Action demonstration (TO-SYN-FUEL, 2017–2022) — are built around their proprietary TCR process.
TO-SYN-FUEL demonstrated the conversion of organic waste and biomass into synthetic drop-in liquid fuels at pilot scale.
Hydro-deoxygenation is a core keyword in TO-SYN-FUEL, indicating hands-on expertise in removing oxygen from bio-oils to produce stable, high-quality fuels.
TO-SYN-FUEL explicitly targeted green hydrogen as a co-product of the waste biomass thermal conversion process.
The direct sequence from SME-1 feasibility (2016) to full IA demonstration (2017) shows an organization that knows how to structure a technology scale-up roadmap within EU funding instruments.
Susteen entered H2020 in 2016 with an SME Instrument Phase 1 feasibility study on their Thermal Catalytic Reforming process — a short, concept-validation exercise with no disclosed keywords, indicating the technology was still at an early assessment stage. Within one year they secured a full Innovation Action grant for TO-SYN-FUEL, a multi-year demonstration project (running through 2022) that added organic waste feedstocks, fuel upgrading, hydro-deoxygenation, and green hydrogen production to their defined scope. The acceleration from feasibility to demonstration in consecutive funding cycles suggests a company executing a deliberate commercialization plan, not an exploratory research actor.
Susteen is on a clear trajectory from technology validation toward commercial-scale deployment of waste-to-fuel conversion, with green hydrogen emerging as a strategic co-product that increases the business case for their TCR process.
Susteen has participated in both projects as a consortium member, never as coordinator — a consistent pattern for a technology SME that contributes a specific proprietary process rather than managing broader project scope. Their two projects engaged 13 distinct partners across 5 countries, indicating they integrate comfortably into large, international, multi-partner teams. Collaborators should expect a focused, technically-defined contribution from Susteen rather than project management or coordination services.
Susteen has worked with 13 unique partners across 5 countries through just 2 projects, suggesting broad consortium integration relative to their project volume. Their network is European in scope, consistent with participation in EU-funded pilot and demonstration initiatives.
Susteen holds a distinctive position as a technology SME with a single, proprietary thermochemical process (TCR) that produces both synthetic liquid fuels and green hydrogen from organic waste in one pathway — a dual-output capability that few companies at this scale can demonstrate. Unlike research institutes that study such conversions, Susteen has moved their process from feasibility through pilot-scale demonstration within the H2020 programme, making them a credible industrial partner rather than an academic contributor. For consortium builders targeting waste valorization or green fuel production, Susteen fills a specific gap: a commercially-oriented technology developer with a defined process and demonstrated scale-up track record.
