VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are produced mainly at work places or laundries using painting processes or organic solvents. These are composed of hydrocarbon of diversified forms and low calories due to the low concentration as they are released to atmosphere as to be diluted, making difficult direct burning by a conventional burner. In the present study, a new form of VMDC (Volumetric Matrix Dump Combustor) has been proposed to process such a low-calorie gas of VOC. This combustor is configured in the form of combining characteristics of a plasma burner, a dump combustor and a volumetric matrix burner. Hence, the VMDC is configured as a structure capable of securing sufficient decomposition temperature and residence time required for stable flame formation and VOC decomposition. To investigate performance and operation characteristics of the VMDC, experiments were conducted as parameters of gas feed rate, toluene concentration, VOC injection position, plasma input power, and heat recuperator by using toluene as a representative VOC. With the plasma burner, shortening of ignition time upon initial starting, enhancement in flame stability and combustibility, and expansion of flammable range were enabled, while not only high-efficiency decomposition but also processing of large amounts of VOC was possible by formation of a recirculation region in the dump combustor. And low-temperature, super-adiabatic, complete combustion and decomposition of VOC was made possible by the volumetric matrix burner. The optimum operation condition for VMDC involves the case where VOC with a toluene concentration of 3000 ppm was supplied at 450 L/min, where the VOC decomposition efficiency was 89.6%, and the specific input energy 333.3 J/L, showing excellent performance as compared with the existing waste gas incinerators. (C) 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.