Waste-to-Energy (WTE)
The process of generating electricity or heat from the combustion or biological conversion of waste materials.
Waste-to-energy encompasses technologies that convert municipal solid waste, organic waste, or landfill gas into usable energy. The most common approach is mass-burn incineration, where unsorted waste is combusted at high temperatures to produce steam that drives turbines. WTE reduces landfill volume by up to 90% and generates baseload renewable electricity, though it requires advanced emission controls to meet air quality standards.