Underground Carbon Removal: Vaulted Deep

Vaulted Deep: How Underground Carbon Removal Is Solving Two Problems at Once

Manure, treated sewage, and agricultural sludge share one thing in common. Left on the surface, they decompose, release methane, and contaminate the air and water of nearby communities. For decades, landfilling, incineration, and land spreading were the only options available. Vaulted Deep found a better use for all of it.

The Houston-based company takes organic waste that cannot be reused or safely applied to land and injects it deep underground, permanently. The technology behind it comes from the oil and gas sector, where slurry injection has been used since the 1980s to manage oilfield waste safely across hundreds of facilities worldwide. Vaulted pioneered applying it to underground carbon removal, turning a proven industrial method into a climate solution that works at scale today, not in a future laboratory.

How Underground Carbon Removal Through Slurry Injection Works

The process converts organic waste into a carbon-rich slurry, then injects it into stable geological formations sealed beneath impermeable rock layers. Wells extend nearly a mile below the surface, into formations with the same structural features that have held hydrocarbons securely for millions of years. Groundwater sits far above the injection zone, separated by thick layers of impermeable rock.

What makes this approach genuinely different is what it can handle. Most underground storage methods require pure gases or liquids. Vaulted's slurry injection manages solids mixed with liquids, including treated sewage, excess manure, paper sludge, and agricultural residues that traditional geological methods simply cannot process. Consequently, the carbon stored in that organic matter stays locked underground for more than 10,000 years, verified and certified through Isometric, one of the most rigorous carbon registries operating today.

Real Deals, Real Scale: What Vaulted Deep Has Already Delivered

The company's first operational site in Hutchinson, Kansas has been running since 2023. Recent upgrades tripled the facility's capacity, and Vaulted has already sequestered 18,000 tonnes of CO₂ while diverting 69,000 tonnes of organic waste from landfills and surface disposal.

In July 2025, Microsoft signed a landmark agreement with Vaulted Deep to deliver up to 4.9 million tonnes of durable carbon dioxide removal over 12 years, running through 2038, representing one of the largest carbon removal deals ever recorded globally. Furthermore, Google, Stripe, JP Morgan, H&M, Alphabet, and Shopify are among the confirmed buyers already retired credits through the platform.

The company forecasts approximately 175% year-over-year revenue growth to eight figures in 2025. In March 2026, Fast Company named Vaulted Deep the number 3 Most Innovative Company in North America, recognizing its approach as one of the most credible and scalable carbon removal models currently in operation.

Julia Reichelstein, co-founder and CEO, described the model plainly: Vaulted offers a dual solution, meeting urgent waste management needs while driving measurable climate and public health improvements at the same time.