The Research Committee on Energy, Environment, and Waste is a part of the ASME Center for Research and Technology Development (CRTD). This committee conceptualizes, designs, and manages research projects with the purpose of gaining a greater understanding of and solving a broad spectrum of problems associated with environmental impacts of energy production/utilization.

This research committee has a rich heritage of providing sound technical guidance documents and reports on topics relating to energy, environment, and waste issues. Originally established in 1970 as the Research Committee on Industrial and Municipal Waste, early research projects were closely associated with incineration, waste to energy, and atmospheric emissions of these systems. Over the past 35 years research has been completed to service the needs of the industrial, municipal, and governmental groups. Topics that are and have been addressed include; reference method accuracy and precision, solid waste; municipal solid waste disposal; medical waste; emissions from hazardous waste incineration, emissions monitoring and control, waste treatment systems; waste management, landfills, recycling, guidelines, regulations, solid residue (ash), vitrification, optimizing combustion, municipal solid waste, emissions, incinerator sources, metal emissions, incineration, and other technologies relating to waste materials.

The committee was renamed in 2005 to reflect the broader scope of research topics that should be addressed by ASME in the area of energy without abandoning the environmental focus of the past. New areas of research interest include: fossil fuels, fuel cells, gasification, hydrogen production, reforming, bio-fuels, solar, wind, carbon sequestration, and nuclear energy.