The waste brought to the plant is first weighed by a platform scale and stored in a waste hopper approximately 7,000 m3 large. A gripper arm takes the refuse to the two waste furnaces. This is where the waste is incinerated. The hot flue gases which are produced are passed through a heat exchanger, creating steam. In the next step, this is used to produce both district heating and electricity. In order to clean the flue gases produced during incineration, Spittelau has a number of state-of-the-art systems. The purified flue gas is released from the chimney at a height of 126 metres.
In addition to the energy generated, 6,000 tonnes of scrap iron and 60,000 tonnes of clinker, ash and filter cake are produced annually.