Background The EU Landfill Directive identifies untreated MSW on landfills as one of the main sources of the greenhouse gas, methane (CH4). Germany in the early 1990s chose expensive high-tech incineration as a solution. Other countries have now the option to adopt more sustainable and environmentally friendly treatment technologies. Results from field tests prior to the LIFE project with mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) and plastic recycling indicate that Material Advanced Recovery Sustainable Systems (MARSS) could be a material recovery process that is robust, economic and quick to implement. Objectives The main objective of the 'MARSS' project is to build a demo plant in Trier (Germany) to prove that there is an effective way to separate and reuse the organic fraction (up to 60% of MSW) into a renewable energy fuel. MARSS will extend the existing low-tech MBT plant into an innovative processing and recycling plant to produce biomass fuel. Other objectives include: Separating the organic fraction and turning it into a renewable energy fuel by several treatment steps; Separating ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other fractions including batteries; Demonstrating sustainable recovery of materials and carbon neutral heat and fuel; Assessing the correct system calibration to achieve marketable biomass fuel quality; Assessing material and energy flows (mass balance, EIA, LCA, CO2/energy balances, etc.); and Assessing the potential in Italy (especially in Naples), Spain, Greece, UK, Czech Republic and Serbia. Expected results: A demo plant will be built, with a capacity input of 10 tonnes/hr (4 000 tonnes/yr) processing a bypass stream from the main MBT plant output material. The project expects to achieve a 30-40% mass Refined Renewable Biomass Fuel (RRBF) output from the raw MSW. Other expected quantifiable results include: The demonstration plant will remove the majority (65%) of the organic content of MSW and turn it into fuel; Compliance with the Landfill Directive because of the reduced organic content of the remaining waste; An input capacity of 10 tonnes/hr of dried MSW for 4 hr/day and 100 days/yr; Production of 5 tonnes/hr (or 2 000 tonnes/yr) of RRBF; Recovery of the following quantities of metals and other components: ferrous metals – 140 kg/hr; NF metals – 60 kg/hr; batteries – 5% of the recovered ferrous metal scrap fraction; metals recycling: 0.033 tonnes CO2eq/tonne MSW (12 000 tonnes MSW = 396 tonnes CO2eq); Avoidance of landfilling of organic substances: 0.5 tonnes CO2eq/tonne MSW (12 000 tonnes MSW = 6 000 tonnes CO2eq); Energy from RRBF: 0.3 tonnesCO2eq/tonne MSW (12 000 tonnes MSW = 3 600 tonnes CO2eq); Total GHG emissions savings from the MARSS Test Plant: CO2 emissions savings 6 000 tonnes CO2eq + 400 tonnes CO2eq + 3 600 tonnes CO2eq = 10 000 tonnes CO2eq.