This position papers recalls that the primary mission of the public waste management service is control waste streams in order to minimize their impacts on health and the environment, in line with the Basel Convention. It reiterates the waste treatment hierarchy: first, reducing waste generation; then recovering the material contained in waste; and finally, recovering the energy contained in residual waste. From this perspective, WtE facilities are presented as the ultimate step in the circular economy, relevant in systems in which waste streams are well known and controlled and when installations are dimensioned in line with materials circularity ambitions. The paper calls on international institutions to support the established waste treatment hierarchy, to empower local decision-makers with the choice of the most appropriate solutions, while ensuring compliance with Environmentally Sound Management of waste.