AN industrial-scale incinerator or a super-sized composting plant could be built in Cumbria in a bid to put a lid on the growing problem of waste in the region, reports Beth Broomby.

The proposals have been drafted by waste management consultants Faber Maunsell in a bid to help Cumbria County Council deal with a burgeoning waste crisis.

The increasing number of bin bags put out in South Lakeland Eden and Furness each week, coupled with stringent government recycling targets and the ever-diminishing capacity of local landfill sites, means local authorities are running out of time to act.

Solutions put forward by Faber Maunsell include the following three options:

l Recycling.

Encouraging the public to separate their waste, developing recycling and building a community composting site for green waste.

l Incineration.

A large incinerator, capable of taking waste from across the whole county, would convert unseparated domestic waste, ranging from paper to plastic, into energy.

l A phased approach.

Implementing a combination of recycling/composting and incineration at a number of smaller incinerators around the region.

Ian Gillies of Faber Maunsell said a large incinerator would be the most reliable way to meet government targets, costing around £ 73 per waste tonne to operate compared to £76 per tonne for option one.

Mr Maunsell said recycling was a less reliable way to hit targets as it depended on the co-operation of residents.

If CCC gives the plan backing, an "energy from waste" incinerator could be built in the county as early as 2008/2009.

However, members of CCC's environmental quality and safety scrutiny panel have hit out at the incinerator proposal claiming it is not in keeping with long-term environmental strategy.

Panel member Coun Wendy Kolbe branded the idea "a horrendous, wholly unsuitable solution." She said the authority should look instead towards creating a compost facility and boosting recycling.

The three options will go out to public consultation later this year and CCC hopes to make a final decision by this autumn.

l Meanwhile South Lakeland District Council has set the ball rolling with a kerbside waste paper recycling scheme in Kendal, Ulverston and Grange this month.

The authority hopes the scheme can be rolled out in time to include glass, cans, plastics and textiles.

l Barrow Borough Council is providing facilities to recycle people's old Yellow Pages.

Old directories can be taken to paper-banks at Asda and Tesco in Barrow or Tudor Square in Dalton-in-Furness.

See our CommuniGate - Recycling site at www.communigate.co.uk/lakes/recycling for details of the Blue Box scheme.