One of today’s major world challenges is the accumulation and the storage of tens of millions of tons per year of final materials resulting from the incineration of domestic and industrial waste. This raises the question of the recycling of these “raw materials”, while making allowance for environmental, economic, social and public health aspects. Our strategy targets the incorporation of waste incineration by-products in a totally circular economy. We propose an innovative process combining templated sol–gel growth of an inorganic or hybrid silica-based network with a solubilized fraction of bottom ash coming from the combustion of industrial and household wastes. The resulting materials engineered via aerosol processing demonstrate maximum adsorption capacity of model pollutant compounds (1-2 dichlorobenzene) competitive with activated carbons currently used in modern incineration plants. We believe that they have the potential to replace conventional activated carbon commonly used in incineration plants, enabling the first step of the long road of recycling final waste.