Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41730918›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Efficiency hierarchy and optimization of waste incineration in China to balance disposal and energy supply.

Jicui Cui, Ying Cui, Jiyang Li, Xiaofeng Gao, Wendong Wei, Yuan Chen, Wenchao Ma, Nanwen Zhu, Yong Geng, Youcai Zhao and 1 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Jicui CuiSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering / State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling / Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6953-8683
Ying CuiCollege of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Electric Power University, Shanghai, China.
Jiyang LiSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering / State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling / Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Xiaofeng GaoCollege of Environment and Ecology / Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment / Innovation Center for Biogenic Construction Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China. gaoxiaofeng@cqu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8511-2807
Wendong WeiSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering / State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling / Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5125-4834
Yuan ChenSauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Wenchao MaSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering / Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Low and Medium Grade Energy (MoE) / Tianjin Key Lab of Biomass-wastes Utilization, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3895-5163
Nanwen ZhuSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering / State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling / Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Yong GengSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering / State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling / Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2284-1375
Youcai ZhaoCollege of Environmental Science and Engineering / State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai, China. zhaoyoucai@tongji.edu.cn.
Ziyang LouSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering / State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling / Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. louworld12@sjtu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5389-3728

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Waste-to-energy incineration addresses the dual pressures of municipal solid waste growth and energy shortages. Persistently low energy efficiency has limited its role as energy sources. We compile a national database of 975 plants including 2151 incinerators across China, showing that they supplied up to 7% of residential electricity consumption in 2023. A three-tier classification framework was established based on energy efficiency performance to distinguish disposal-oriented, energy-recovery, and green energy plants. Scenario projections under five Shared Socioeconomic Pathways indicated that waste incineration could generate up to 259 TWh by 2035, meeting 13% of residential demand. Artificial intelligence-based control and waste heat recovery are the most cost-effective. Efficiency improvements could mitigate up to 60% of greenhouse gas and flue-gas pollutant emissions relative to the 2035 baseline. These findings could redefine the role of waste incineration in low-carbon energy systems and provide scalable insights for emerging economies undergoing waste and energy transitions.

Identifiers

PMID41730918
PMCPMC13043776

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.