Plasma arc gasification is an extremely high temperature variant of traditional gasification and is
theoretically more energy-efficient than the conventional process. As a result, it is highly energy-
intensive and is used primarily currently used for specialized applications such as regulated medical
waste (RMW) disposal. It has shown to be difficult to scale up to real-world MSW waste systems.

Aside from RMW, plasma arc gasification may be used to convert chlorine-containing materials,
asbestos, printed circuit boards, and other toxic or contaminated materials to syngas. During the
process, a plasma torch is used to gasify the feedstock to temperatures ranging from 7,200 to
12,600°F. The process generates syngas and an inert slag-like product as outputs. The slag is
sometimes described as being glassy due to the high process temperatures employed. Syngas can
be cleaned and used to manufacture transportable synthetic natural gas or other industrial products,
or it can be combusted directly at the source to generate electric power.