Based on a survey of Korean waste-to-energy (WTE) firms, this article analyzes the R&D effectiveness of the WTE industry, which accounts for the largest proportion of new and renewable energy power generation in Korea, using multiple and logistic regression. A company’s R&D can be considered effective if its R&D inputs (e.g., R&D expenditure/sales, R&D manpower/employees, education/training, and reward systems) or R&D outputs (e.g., patent applications and approvals, the introduction of new products and services, and the redesign of products and processes) contribute to an increase in R&D outcomes (e.g., decrease in production costs, the creation of employment, and market entry). It was found that market entry is not affected by R&D inputs but is positively influenced by R&D outputs, indicating that Korean WTE firms have focused on market entry via the technology transfer of new products and services and/or the redesign of products and processes. In the WTE industry, the creation of employment does not have a statistically significant relationship with R&D expenditure/sales, R&D manpower/employees, or the redesign of products, but it does exhibit a positive relationship with education/training, reward systems, patent applications and approvals, and the introduction of new products and services. Finally, the decrease in production costs is not influenced by R&D expenditure/sales, R&D manpower/employees, reward systems, or patent applications and approvals, but is positively affected by education/training, the introduction of new products and services, and the redesign of products and processes. A policy implication of these results is that market entry show the virtual cycle on expanding R&D expenditure/sales and/or R&D manpower/employees.