Burning waste to produce energy is as old as the human use of fire, but is now seen as a modern alternative to landfill.

Older methods of burning waste in an uncontrolled fashion sometimes led to problems such as fly ash, containing toxins, escaping and contaminating nearby areas, or to the production of a toxin residue. But modern waste incineration techniques are much more thorough and more self-contained, so there is no longer a contamination risk. They are also more efficient, so that more of the energy produced by burning the waste can be captured for electricity and heat generation.