Method and apparatus used in the field of waste management for utilizing recoverable waste products as efficiently as possible. The invention reduces the environmental impact of such a method to a minimum. The recoverable waste products and non-recoverable waste products are fed into one end of a substantially horizontally fixed container as material, and are transported in a continuous or discontinuous manner to another end of the container, 60 80% of energy input being carried out on the material in an area of a first quarter of the container, and a remaining 20 40% of energy input being transferred to the material in other areas of the container.