This study examined the effects of additives of potassium carbonate (K(2)CO(3)) and zinc oxide (ZnO) on the pyrolysis of waste sunflower-oil cake using a 60 kW pilot-scale plasma torch reactor. The major gaseous products were CO and H(2). The productions of CO and CH(4) increased while that of H(2) decreased with the addition of K(2)CO(3). The use of ZnO reduced while enhanced the formation of CO and H(2), respectively. In order to match the appeal of resource reutilization, one can use the waste K(2)CO(3) resulted from the sorption of CO(2) with KOH in greenhouse gas control and the waste ZnO obtained from the melting process as additives for the co-pyrolysis of sunflower-oil cake, yielding fuels rich in CO and H(2), respectively. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.