The technical and economic analysis of the industrial waste heat recovery system, considering probabilistic distribution of the input data is presented. A prospect and rationality of the application of the waste heat boiler and absorption refrigerator has been examined as an example, in view of covering integrated heat and refrigeration demands. The influence of changing ambient conditions as well as the exhaust gas temperature and its flow rate on the overall system performance has been simulated and assessed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.