A hydrocarbon fuel extracted from waste high-density polyethylene (WHDPE) by catalytic pyrolysis in a batch scale reactor is blended with diesel by 30% vol. (called as D70H30) is tested in a variable compression ratio engine equipped with a common rail system. Experiments were conducted at three compression ratios (16:1, 17.5:1, and 19:1) and exhaust gas re-circulation (EGR) rates (0%, 10%, and 20%) at the engine’s rated power to evaluate its combustion, performance and emission characteristics. The results revealed that, increasing the compression ratio resulted in higher peak cylinder pressure (PCP) and heat release rates (HRR). Introduction of EGR diminished both PCP and HRR peaks. The brake thermal efficiency of D70H30 blend was 4% lower than diesel at same operating conditions which got better at higher compression ratio without EGR. NOx emission was highest when injected at compression ratio 19:1 and at 0% EGR rate which was 6% and 3% higher than diesel and D70H30 blend operated at engine stock settings. In comparison with baseline diesel smoke opacity remained lower at all operating conditions, where lowest smoke emission was recorded at CR19 and at 0% EGR rate. UHC and CO emission followed the similar trend of smoke opacity. Whereas CO2 emission increased with compression ratio and reduced with induction of EGR. It can be concluded from the study that at higher compression ratio and low EGR rates D70H30 blend can be effectively utilized in a CRDi engine.