With increasing environmental considerations and stricter regulations, gasification of waste is considered to be a more attractive technology than conventional incineration for energy recovery as well as material recycling. The experiment for combustible waste mixed with plastic and cellulosic materials was performed in a fixed-bed gasifier to investigate the gasification behaviour with the operating conditions. Waste pelletized to a diameter of 2-3 cm and 5 cm length, was gasified in the temperature range 1100-1450 degreesC. The composition of H-2 was in the range 30-40% and CO 15-30% depending upon the oxygen/waste ratio. Gasification of waste due to the thermoplastic property of the mixed-plastic melting and thermal cracking shows a prominent difference from that of coal, or coke. It was desirable to maintain the top temperature at 400 degreesC to ensure them mass transfer and uniform reaction throughout the packed bed. As the bed height was increased, the formation of H-2 and CO was increased whilst the CO2 decreased by the char-CO2 reaction and plastic cracking. From the experimental results, the cold gas efficiency was around 61% and the heating values of product the gases were in the range of 2800-3200 kcal/Nm(3). (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.