Lay waste to carbon-free fad (4)
I believe the answer is:
raze
'lay waste' is the definition.
'raze' can be an answer for 'lay' (thesaurus). I am not certain of the 'waste' bit.
'carbon-free fad' is the wordplay.
'carbon' becomes 'c' (C is the chemical symbol for carbon).
'free' suggests deleting specific letters.
'fad' becomes 'craze' (synonyms).
'craze' with 'c' taken away is 'RAZE'.
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for raze that I've seen before include "level" , "Burn to the ground" , "Tear down and flatten" , "Demolish (a building)" , "Destroy completely, tear down to the ground" .)