Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is an important climate policy tool aimed at removing and storing atmospheric CO₂. While the German government has begun investing in CDR research, it has yet to establish a concrete policy pathway. This paper argues that the state must take a proactive role in shaping CDR policy rather than leaving it to private companies. If private companies dominate CDR implementation, this could undermine public trust, weaken state authority, and threaten democratic decision-making. While state control is no guarantee for an equitable implementation of CDR policies, there are good reasons to think that CDR management should be led by the state. I highlight how CDR can be conceptualized as waste management, how waste management is typically tied to state oversight, and how the state is best equipped to provide it in an equitable way. Building on this, I argue that if private companies gain too much control over future CDR pathways, they may challenge the authority of the state as the primary entity responsible for managing the atmospheric clean-up. This could lead to a decline in state power, a (further) increase in corporate influence, and weaken democratic decision-making on critical societal issues such as climate policy.