Staged pyrolysis and combustion of waste tire chips was investigated as a technique to minimize emissions of pollutants.. Fixed quantities of chips were introduced to a furnace under pyrolytic conditions (in nitrogen) and devolatilized at furnace temperatures in the range 500-1000degreesC. The pyrolyzate gases were then mixed with additional streams of either nitrogen or oxygen in a venturi mixer, placed in-side the furnace. In the oxygen case, a nominally premixed flame occurred at the exit of the venturi, still inside the furnace. The effluent of either case was channeled to a secondary furnace for further treatment at 1000degreesC for a duration of 0.6s. Sampling for combustion emissions, including products of incomplete combustion (PIC), took place at the exits of both furnaces. Sampled species included CO2, CO, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), particulates, as well as nitrogen and sulfur oxides. Results showed that under inert conditions in both furnaces (pyrolysis-pyrolysis case) the emissions of PAHs and particulates from the primary furnace were high and drastically increased by the secondary furnace treatment. To the contrary, in the pyrolysis-oxidation case, when the pyrolyzates ignited and formed a flame at the exit of the venturi, the particulate and PAH emissions were low at the exit of the primary furnace. PIC were further reduced in the secondary furnace as oxidative conditions prevailed therein. As these experiments measured the PAH and soot amounts in the tire pyrolyzates before and after the flame, they illustrated the effectiveness of a nominally premixed flame for oxidizing such species. They also illustrated that a sequential pyrolysis-oxidation approach has the potential for low emissions in waste tire-to-energy plants.