The study focuses on using a combination of diesel and a liquid fuel derived from the co-pyrolysis of pressed neem cake (PNC) and mixed waste plastics (MWP) containing waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) in equal amounts with the help of cupric oxide (CuO) catalyst. The engine analysis was carried out using diesel and five different blends of co-pyrolysis oil with diesel in proportions of 20 % (20 % pyrolysis oil + 80 % diesel = PD20), 40 % (PD40), 50 % (PD50) and 100 % pyrolysis oil (PD100), respectively. Initially, the co-pyrolysis oil was produced using PNC and MWP in a ratio of 1:2 under different operating temperatures between 350 °C and 650 °C. The process temperature was optimized to yield maximum liquid oil, and the characterization study was performed. In addition to that, CeO2 nanoadditives were used to improve the properties of PD20 fuel. Different dosages of nanoadditives were blended with PD20 to prepare PD20@25 (PD20 + 25 ppm CeO2), PD20@50, PD20@75, and PD20@100. The objective of the study is to assess the performance, emission, and combustion characteristics of a diesel engine utilizing co-pyrolysis oil-diesel blend by including the nanoadditives. The analysis was carried out on a single-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine mounted with an eddy current dynamometer. The experiments demonstrated that the combination of PD20 and 50 ppm CeO2 resulted in a 6 % increase in thermal efficiency when compared to other blended fuels and diesel. When compared to all fuels, the PD20@50 produced a higher decrease in CO and HC emissions by roughly 30 and 6.2 %, respectively. The combustion analysis showed that the heat release rate (HRR) and maximum cylinder pressure were also found to have improved by adding nanoparticles.