Why solid waste incineration is not the answer to your city’s waste problem

Solid waste incineration is often presented as a ‘quick-fix’ solution to reduce rapidly growing waste volumes while producing energy, especially for cities in the Global South. Although frequently marketed as clean, profitable and even circular, incineration is actually among the worst approaches cities can take to achieve both waste reduction and energy goals.

Incineration infrastructure is expensive to build and operate, inefficient, and creates environmental risks. It locks cities into high-carbon pathways by requiring them to continue producing lots of waste to feed the incinerator, undermining efforts to reduce waste generation or increase recycling rates. In cities around the world there is growing public opposition to incineration, and it is increasingly being understood as just as unsuitable as landfilling as awareness of its environmental and climate impacts grows.