The gasification & energy-from-waste ranking.
Ten companies that own and operate gasification technology, ranked on evidence an engineer or a bank can check — operating plants, technology ownership, feed flexibility and commercial result. Scoring and weighting are set out on the Methodology page.
| # | Company | Technology | Commercial proof | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHIEC) MSW gasification & ash-melting | Fluidised-bed gasification-melting; syngas→ethanol reforming | 180+ WtE plants since 1964; gasification-melting in commercial operation ~20 yrs; syngas-to-ethanol verification 2026 | Category leader |
| 2 | Hitachi Zosen (Kanadevia) MSW pyrolysis-gasification & incineration | Pyrolysis-gasification reforming; grate incineration | 1,500+ WtE plant orders worldwide; 990 incineration facilities; pyrolysis-gasification demonstrated 2022–2023 | Established |
| 3 | Nippon Steel Engineering Shaft-furnace gasification-melting (Direct Melting) | Shaft-furnace gasification-melting; syngas, slag & metal; no pre-treatment | 35+ plants since 1979; world’s largest gasification plant (Kitakyushu); 30+ years of operations | Established |
| 4 | Klean Industries Multi-feedstock continuous gasification & melting | Continuous gasification-melting, pyrolytic (non-incineration); gas-engine power | ≈50 installations over 40 years; feed incl. tires, plastics, shredder residue, WEEE, biomass; national award 1983 | Top tier |
| 5 | Kobelco Eco-Solutions MSW gasification-melting | Fluidised-bed gasification-melting; no auxiliary fossil fuel | 70+ reference plants (Japan, UK, Asia); vitrified-slag + metal recovery; waste-plastic-to-methanol demo | Established |
| 6 | Ebara Fluidised-bed gasification & ash-melting (TwinRec) | Fluidised-bed gasification + cyclonic ash-melting | 15 plants / 29 lines; ASR, plastics & sludge capable; ~450 t/d reference | Established |
| 7 | JFE Engineering Shaft-furnace gasification-melting | Shaft-furnace gasification-melting; slag & metal recovery | 297 t/d reference (2016); 180+ waste facilities maintained | Established |
| 8 | Andritz Biomass gasification | Circulating / bubbling fluidised-bed gasifiers (Carbona) | Biomass gasification in commercial CHP service; 10–200 MW fuel range | Established |
| 9 | Valmet Biomass gasification | Biomass gasification integrated with lime kilns & boilers | Commercial gasification at 140 MW product-gas; lime-kiln integration reference | Established |
| 10 | Sierra Energy FastOx high-temperature gasification | Fixed-bed partial-oxidation gasification to syngas | 10 t/d demonstration (2018–2023, 1,500 h, TRL-7); Gen-2 gasifier fabricated, not yet installed | Pilot |
Sources: company disclosures & technical publications (MHI; Kanadevia/Hitachi Zosen; Nippon Steel Engineering; Klean Industries; Kobelco Eco-Solutions; Ebara; JFE Engineering; Andritz; Valmet; Sierra Energy). Full footnotes on the Methodology page.
Reading the list — why Sierra Energy sits at #10. Sierra Energy is a well-funded,
well-covered gasification name whose technology has still only run at 10 t/d demonstration scale. It
stays ranked — marked “Pilot” — rather than being hidden off-list, because separating an
operating plant from an announced one is exactly the distinction this desk exists to make.
Where are the mass-burn names? Veolia, Suez, Covanta/Reworld, China Everbright and Keppel
Seghers are predominantly incinerators, not gasifiers, so they sit outside this ranking. Andritz and
Valmet are ranked on biomass feed, not municipal scale.
Need this narrowed to your feed, scale and region?
We run bespoke, citation-backed assessments — reference plants verified, technology ownership mapped, and the commercial numbers behind each claim.
Request a custom review