The Earth Engineering Center (EEC) was formed in 1995 by the Earth Institute, the School of Applied Science and Engineering (SEAS), and the Henry Krumb School of Mines of Columbia University. Its original mission was to direct engineering research on processes and products that balance the increasing use of materials, the finite resources of the Earth, and the need for clean water, soil, and air. The Center was also dedicated to the advancement of industrial ecology: The physical and social sciences for reconfiguring industrial and societal activities with full knowledge of their environmental consequences. EEC introduced the teaching of Industrial Ecology of Earth Resources at Columbia University, was the first engineering unit of Columbia's Earth Institute, and co-organized the 1997 Global Warming International Conference (GW8), held at Columbia University.

In 1998, SEAS divided the historic Henry Krumb School of Mines, the first mining and metallurgy school in the U.S. (1864) and the foundation of SEAS, into the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering (EEE), the first such program to be accredited in the U.S., the Materials Science Program, and the Earth Engineering Center. EEC has contributed to the formation of EEE and several important research units at Columbia (Clean Ocean and Shore Trust, Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy, Water Center, Center for Life Cycle Analysis).

As of the beginning of this century, EEC and its founder, Prof. Nickolas Themelis, have concentrated on advancing the goals of sustainable waste management in the U.S. and globally. Economic development has resulted in the annual generation of billions of tons of used materials which are a considerable resource and, when not managed properly, constitute a major environmental problem both in developed and developing nations. This research has engaged many M.S. and Ph.D. students on all aspects of waste management.

The first outcome of this work was the formation, in 2003, of the Waste to Energy Research and Technology Council (WTERT). This is an international consortium of universities, companies and governmental organizations concerned with the recovery of energy and materials from municipal and other "wastes". WTERT strives to increase the global recovery of energy and materials from used solids and to advance the economic and environmental performance of waste-to-energy (WTE) technologies. WTERT has sister organizations in China and Greece; others are under development.

In 2008, with the help of Waste Management Inc., the largest integrated such company in the world, EEC formed the Center for Sustainable Use of Resources (SUR). Also, EEC conducts, in collaboration with BioCycle journal, a bi-annual survey of waste generation and disposition in the U.S.

Mission The mission of EEC is to identify the best available technologies for the treatment of various waste materials, conduct additional academic research as required, and disseminate this information by means of its publications, web pages, and periodic meetings of WTERT and SUR. The guiding principle is that responsible management of wastes must be based on science and best available technology and not what seems to be inexpensive now but can be very costly in the near future.