The increasing industrialization, urbanization, and changes in the pattern of life, which accompany the process of economic growth, give rise to the generation of increasing quantities of wastes leading to increased threats to the environment. In recent years, technologies have been developed that not only help in generating a substantial quantity of decentralized energy but also in reducing the quantity of waste for its safe disposal.

A common feature in most developed countries is that the entire waste management system is being handled as a profitable venture by private industry or non-government organizations with a tipping fee for the treatment of waste being one of the major revenue streams. The major advantage of adopting technologies for recovery of energy from urban wastes via power plants is to reduce the quantity of waste and a net reduction in environmental pollution, besides the generation of a substantial quantity of energy.