In this study, the catalytic potential of low-cost materials (i.e. olivine, dolomite, and red mud (RM)) for H 2 -rich gas generation through the air gasification of wood–plastic composite (WPC) was investigated. Among the low-cost materials, the use of RM resulted in the maximum H 2 selectivity (25.81 vol%) and gas yield (65.80 wt%). This is attributed to the effect of Fe 2 O 3 content in RM, which induced the formation of oxygen vacancies, enhancing coking resistance, and stimulating water–gas shift reaction during the gasification process. Using RM, increasing the temperature from 700 to 800 °C enhanced the gas yield and H 2 selectivity due to the promotion of endothermic dry- and steam-methane reforming reactions. Increasing the equivalence ratio in the range of 0.2 to 0.3 decreased the H 2 selectivity while promoting the gas and CO 2 production because of strengthened oxidation reactions which is undesirable for H 2 -rich gas production. Further, loading 10 wt% Ni and the addition of promoters increased the gas yield along with H 2 and CO selectivities, in particular, 5 wt% Ca-10 wt% Ni/RM catalyst showed the highest gas yield (77.72 wt%), and H 2 selectivity (37.49 vol%). This suggests that the combined effects of Ni and promoters enhanced the activity, selectivity, and stability of catalyst for H 2 production. Overall, air gasification using promoted Ni-based catalysts supported on low-cost materials like RM as a catalyst can provide a new technology to convert WPC into a more useful and high-energy density substance such as H 2 -rich gas.