污泥焚烧投资与运行费用太高，易造成大气污染，一般首先考虑堆肥和消化。但是，污泥堆肥出路有限，厌氧消化后仍有 50%~70% 的污泥有机物残留，不得不再增加焚烧环节进行最终处置。鉴于此，专家郝晓地曾表示，污泥采取“低端”丢弃方式变得日益艰难，不如直接走向“高端”，即焚烧。
The investment and operation cost of sludge incineration is too high, which is easy to cause air pollution. Generally, composting and digestion are considered first. However, the way out of sludge composting is limited, and 50% ~ 70% of sludge organic matter remains after anaerobic digestion, so incineration has to be added for final disposal. In view of this, expert Hao Xiaodi once said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to adopt the "low-end" disposal method of sludge. It is better to go directly to the "high-end", that is, incineration.
清华大学教授王凯军也曾指出，长期以来，国人对污泥干化焚烧工艺存在误读，普遍认为它是一种高能耗工艺和高碳排放工艺。实际上，国际上污泥焚烧能量可以达到自给，从不同工艺能耗来看，焚烧工艺（~100kW/t）与堆肥工艺（>100kW/t）相当。焚烧能够实现彻底处理和处置，而堆肥后续需要考虑储存、运输等能耗。而且，污泥中的有机质焚烧是碳中性的。
Professor Wang Kaijun of Tsinghua University has also pointed out that for a long time, Chinese people have misunderstood the sludge drying incineration process, which is generally considered to be a high-energy consumption process and high carbon emission process. In fact, sludge incineration energy can be self-sufficient in the world. In terms of energy consumption of different processes, incineration process (~ 100kW / T) is equivalent to composting process (> 100kW / T). Incineration can realize complete treatment and disposal, while the energy consumption of storage and transportation needs to be considered in the follow-up of composting. Moreover, the incineration of organic matter in sludge is carbon neutral.