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Waste materials can be used as a valuable resource for reuse, recycling or energy recovery. In this paper a review on using waste as energy resource, done in the REMOWE project, included in the EU funded Baltic Sea Region Programme, is presented. Five main conversion paths have been identified; combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, anaerobic digestion and fermentation. Combustion and anaerobic digestion are mature and well-proven technologies for waste treatment but improvements are needed to make the processes more efficient as energy conversion processes. For anaerobic digestion feedstock pre-treatment, avoidance of inhibition, mixing, residues utilization, and monitoring and control are identified development areas. A more recent trend is development of dry digestion technology for the treatment of municipal waste. The possible improvements of the combustion process using waste as fuel includes plant efficiency, improved emission control and ash handling. Pyrolysis and gasification have been used for waste treatment but the technologies are still in the development stage. Identified development areas are process operation conditions, gas and by-product quality, gas cleaning and plant efficiency.

Studies comparing waste to energy systems found do not give a clear picture of what waste to energy technology that is most favourable. The results of the comparisons are dependent on the conditions chosen for the study such as location, economic activities, population, and possible system combinations.