Solid wastes, called screenings, are generated from the operations of pre-treatment of municipal wastewaters. Increasing production of screenings may be expected from the technological evolutions of wastewater treatment processes that require increasingly fine screening (sieving) pre-treatments. Until now, little attention has been paid to these wastes and their treatment even though treatment methods other than landfilling or incineration may prove to be more adapted. A better characterization of screenings and a study of adapted methods of disposal are therefore needed in order to develop adequate strategies of management and treatment. Qualitative characteristics of the production of screenings from three municipal wastewater treatment plants in Region Rhône-Alpes (France) were determined, as a first step towards the development of an adequate management strategy for these wastes. Among principal results obtained, the volatile solid content of screenings underlined a high proportion of organic matter, which was highly biodegradable referring to ultimate methane production of screenings. The next objective was to study anaerobic digestion of screenings with pilot-scale experimentation. This paper presents results from anaerobic digestion of screenings sampled in a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Region Rhône-Alpes (France). A stainless pilot-scale digester, 90 l in volume, had been designed to allow full monitoring and optimization of operating conditions (temperature, composition of the gas flow, mass balance ...). The digester performance was evaluated under mesophilic conditions (36 ± 1 °C) for a period of three months, operating under semi-continuous conditions. Each week, digestates had been analysed regarding selected parameters (Dried solids and volatiles solid contents, pH, volatile fatty acids concentration). The study test was divided into four stages, within two main experimental phases were carried out. The first experimental phase, corresponding to constant addition of 8 kg of wastes per week, had an average biogas production of 57 l /kgVS per week and revealed that operating conditions were not satisfying. The second experimental phase, corresponding to increasing amount of screenings added per week, from 2 kg to 6 kg, had an average biogas yield of 137.7 l/kgVS, thus around 57 % v/v of methane (CH4). Characteristics of digestates sampled each week in the reactor confirmed that organic load introduced in the digester was appropriate regarding the retention period (28 days) and process of anaerobic digestion was working properly (pH value at optimal working range and low VFA concentration). The pilot-scale experimentation of anaerobic digestion of screenings notified, with optimum operating conditions, a good potential to biogas production in case of implementation a new treatments strategies for these wastes. As required by European regulation, anaerobic digestion process reduces organic matter content of digested wastes. However, the amount of screenings produced is relatively small as compared to sludge or organic household wastes productions, but screenings digestion could be conducted in co-digestion with these wastes in existing digester plant without any major technical disagreements and with few investments.