Any locality faces a problem of removal or disposal of solid domestic waste: it is always a mainly environmental problem. It is crucial that processing of domestic waste does not violate the ecological safety of a locality and normal functioning of the urban economy in terms of public health and hygiene, as well as the living conditions of the population as a whole.

The Problem of complete or partial destruction or disposal of solid domestic waste (SDW) - household rubbish– is actual, mainly, in terms of negative impact on environment. SDWis a rich source of secondary resources (including ferrous, non-ferrous, rare and scattered metals) , as well as a "free" source of energy , as household rubbish can serve as renewable raw materials for fuel energy.

As widely known, the overwhelming majority of solid domestic waste is so far piled in dumps, natural or arranged as "landfill sites" . However, it is the most inefficient way to deal with solid domestic wastes as these dumps occupy vast areas of fertile land and often have a high concentration of carbon-containing materials (paper, polyethylene, plastic, wood, rubber); they are often burning, polluting the environment with exit gases. In addition , dumps are a source of contamination of both surface and ground waters as precipitations drain them

For example, Moscow annually produces 10 million tons of industrial and domestic wastes, which are removed to special landfills. There are over 50 of such landfills in the Moscow Region; each ranging from 3 to 10 ha. In general, Russia has allotted 0.8 million hectares of land for dumps which cover not only vacant lots, ravines and careers, but also fertile soil.

Foreign experience shows that a rational organization of SDW recycling enables to use up to 90 % of recycling products in the construction industry, for example, as a concrete aggregate. According to the data of specialized companies who practice direct combustion of SDW, implementation of thermal methods by burning 1,000 kg of SDW will provide thermal energy equivalent to burning of 250 kg of residual fuel oil. However, the real savings will be even greater, because they do not take into account the fact of preserving primary raw materials and the costs of extracting it, and to produce oil from it.

Furthermore, in developed countries there is a legal restriction  to the content of 1 m3 of emitted gas: it shall not be greater than 0.1 x10 -9 g of nitrogen dioxide and furans from waste incineration . These restrictions show that there is a demand  to find a way to decontaminate the process of direct SDW combustion or doing it with a much less negative impact on environment, especially in dumps.

The advantage of pyrolysis compared with direct combustion of waste is primarily in its cost-effectiveness in terms of prevention of environmental pollution. Pyrolysis enables to recycle hard-to-process components such as tires, plastics, waste oils, slop material. There are no biologically active substances after pyrolysis , so the

underground storage of pyrolysis products does not harm the environment. The obtained ash has a high density, which strongly reduces the amount of waste for underground storage. Pyrolysis does not result in remediation (smelting) of heavy metals. The advantages include ease of storage and transportation of the products obtained and also that the equipment has a small capacity. The whole process requires less capital investment.

Pyrolysis machines or SDW processing plants operate in Denmark, USA, Germany, Japan, Russia and other countries.

Forcing of research and development in this area began in the 70s of XX century, during the "oil boom." Since that time, getting energy and heat out of plastic, rubber and other combustible waste by means of pyrolysis has been regarded as one of the sources of power prodiction. Japan pays a particular attention to  to  thistechnology.