The growth of the Waste-to-Energy (WTE) industry is attracting attention as a powerful means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; the Korean government is supporting various efforts such as increasing R&D investment. Despite the importance of the WTE industry, the analysis of R&D efficiency remains insufficient. This study analyzes the R&D efficiency of the Korean WTE industry and its determinants. After R&D activities are separated into input and output, R&D efficiency is analyzed with regard to whether R&D input contributes to increased R&D output using multiple regression and logistic regression methodologies based on the survey of Korean WTE firms. In the results of analysis, the introduction of new products and services was positively affected by R&D manpower and education-training. In addition, the redesign of products and processes was positively affected by R&D expenditure, R&D manpower, education-training, and the reward system. The policy implication is that education and training for R&D manpower should be provided to improve R&D efficiency, and there should be investment in basic and applied research and development research should be expanded to gain global compETitiveness.