MSW generation rates are in uenced by economic development, the degree of industri- alisation, public habits, and local climate. As a general trend, the higher the economic development, the higher the amount of MSW generated. Nowadays more than 50% of the entire world’s population lives in urban areas. The high rate of population growth, the rapid pace of the global urbanisation and the economic expansion of developing countries are leading to increased and accelerating rates of municipal solid waste production (World Bank, 2012). With proper MSW management and the right control of its polluting effects on the environment and climate change, municipal solid waste has the opportunity to become a precious resource and fuel for the urban sustainable energy mix of tomorrow: only between 2011 and 2012, the increase of venture capital and private equity business investment in
the sector of waste-to-energy - together with biomass - has registered an increase of 186%, summing up to a total investment of USD 1 billion (UNEP/Bloomberg NEF, 2012). Moreover, waste could represent an attractive investment since MSW is a fuel received at a gate fee, contrary to other fuels used for energy generation, thus representing a negative price for the WtE plant operators (Energy Styrelsen, 2012).