Energy Sources

Waste-to-Energy

Also Known As Energy from Waste

Waste Derived

Citation Formats

General Reference

Energy Atlas. "Waste-to-Energy." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-energy.interactiveatlas.org/energy-sources/waste-to-energy.

APA Style

Energy Atlas. (n.d.). Waste-to-Energy. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-energy.interactiveatlas.org/energy-sources/waste-to-energy

BibTeX

@misc{energyatlas-waste-to-energy,
  author = {Energy Atlas},
  title = {Waste-to-Energy},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-energy.interactiveatlas.org/energy-sources/waste-to-energy},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Electricity and heat recovered by burning municipal solid waste, a fuel that is partly biogenic paper, food and wood and partly plastics and other fossil-derived materials. In the United States as of May 2026, 57 power plants generated about 12.8 billion kilowatthours a year from about 26.6 million tons of combustible waste, and burning reduces a ton of garbage to a few hundred pounds of ash.

Facts

Source Class

Mixed biogenic and nonbiogenic waste 1

First Commercial Year

1874 2

The first refuse destructor with heat recovery was built in Nottingham, England in 1874; the first in the United States followed on Governors Island, New York, in 1885.

Cross-Tradition Connections