Abstract: A continuous evaporation process for drying water-wet waste solids and sludges, using a paraffin oil solvent, until the waste is dried to a near-zero wastewater product, without experiencing sticky solids. The invention involves (1) mixing the input solids or sludges with a paraffin oil solvent, (2) feeding the mixture into two or more stages of evaporation in parallel to evaporate some of the water present in the input solids or sludges and to extract some of the indigenous solvent-soluble compounds from the solids, (3) feeding the slurry from the parallel stages of evaporation to one or more final evaporation stages in series, and (4) feeding the slurry from the final stages of evaporation to a centrifuge or other device for separating most of the solvent from the solids.