Municipal solid waste, in the form of paper waste, has been converted into liquid oil by a fixed bed pyrolysis process. Favorable properties for pyrolysis conversion such as high volatile content, elemental composition, and thermochemical behavior of the waste were investigated by characterization study. The waste paper feedstock was pyrolyzed in ail externally heated 7 cm diameter, 38 cm high fixed bed reactor with nitrogen as a carrier gas. The pyrolysis oil was collected in a series of condenser and ice-cooled collectors. The char was separately collected while the gas was flared. The effect of process conditions, like fixed bed reactor temperature, feedstock size and effect of running time on the product yields, was studied. The composition of the oil was determined at a bed temperature of 450 degreesC, at which the liquid yield was maximum. The liquid product was analyzed for physical, elemental and chemical composition using Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.