Waste combustion is an interesting alternative for waste management and energy recovery. Knowledge of the waste higher heating value (HHV) is important for judging it's worth as fuel. This work introduces a new equation, based on thermochemical concepts, to calculate HHV from elemental composition. This equation is expressed in terms of mass percentages on a dry basis of carbon (%C, hydrogen (%H), oxygen (%O), nitrogen (%N), and sulfur (%S); the HHV is computed in MJ/kg. The equation is as follows: HHV = (I - (%H20/100))(-0.3708(%C - 1.1124(%H) + 0.1391(%0) - 0.3178(%N) - 0.1391(%S)). The thermochemical concept on which this expression is based involves a wide applicability. This equation neglects the inorganic carbon, hence it is not very adequate when there is a significant concentration of it. The predictions from this approach were contrasted against those proceeding from equations currently used in combustion technology, and also against bomb calorimeter data. The new equation is clearly competitive with respect to other formulations, and it can be very helpful for presenting a waste HHV value based on different derivation suppositions. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.