ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have condemned plans by Hertfordshire County Council to build an energy from waste plant in Radlett, insisting there are greener alternatives yet to be explored.

A company that wants to build the incinerator on Green Belt land, near to the former Handley Page airfield, was last week shortlisted by the council as one of two preferred bidders.

However, critics claim that more environmentally friendly methods have not been properly considered by the council for the proposed site on Harper Lane.

Green Party candidate for St Albans Simon Grover said: "The plan for the plant is so unimaginative - there are so many better ways of reducing waste, which are cleaner and more environmentally friendly.

"Incineration is such a backward step - it's a very 19th and 20th century way of doing things.

"It is lazy of both councils (county and district) to blindly accept the offer of an energy from waste plant from the Governemment and the bidding companies. The council just have to operate best practice and, in this sense, it's very disappointing. This is what local government should be for, to say 'This is what our local people would like to see'. People have reason to be very disappointed."

Councillor Ian Brandon, who stands for the Green Party in North Watford and is on Hertfordshire Council's environment committee, added: "My argument, and lots of other residents arguments, is that there are many alternatives which are equally suitable and much more environmentally friendly."

Environmentalists sympathise with residents' concerns that the plant - converting household rubbish into heat and electricity for at least 20,000 homes across the county - would have devastating environmental effects. This is despite assurances from Hertfordshire County Council that the plant would, if built, be subject to stringent health and safety guidelines.

They suggest green options such as anaerobic digestion, which composts biodegradable waste to generate electricity, and Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT), which can also remove recyclable elements, including metal, plastic and glass, meaning even more waste is reused.

Councillor Brandon said: "Residents should be worried. The main issue is with the emissions that the incinerators produce.

"Even the new ones, which are safer, release significant levels of dioxins and there is research that say the emissions are not safe enough for the public to be around."

He added: "Traffic to maintain the site and transport that amount of waste will be rather large. I understand that there will be 800 tonnes of waste a day and hundreds of lorries a day to take waste in and ash away from the plant."

Mr Grover added: "It's a very inefficient way of recovering energy compared to the alternative options. Many energy from waste plants generate very little electricity and some don't generate any. I've just been reading that an incinerator of this kind of size is equivalent to 1.5 million cars on the road each day - that's extraordinary.

"It is important to point out that all energy from waste plants are incinerators. They call them energy fram waste plants because incinerators is a very unpopular word. But they are back on the agenda because the price of landfill is going up and energy from waste plants are cheaper."

Hertfordshire County Council shortlisted two companies for the next stage of the procurement process and hope to select a preferred bidder by June 2011, when a planning application will then be submitted for the site. A consultation period will then take place to allow residents to voice any concerns they have about the plans.

The choice of an energy from waste plant is particularly contentious, councillor Brandon says, because the council is currently reviewing its Waste Development Plan Documents, which sets out a long-term strategy for managing and disposing of waste up to 2016.

The documents, which are currently at the consultation stage, stated that the priority will be reducing the amount of the waste produced by reusing and recycling materials, ensuring that landfill is the last option.

Councillor Brandon believes that this runs contrary to the energy from waste plants, which burn all rubbish received without maximising recyclable material.

He said: "You could well say that the documents and the plant in Radlett run against each other. Although energy from waste plants just deal with black bin waste, ultimately recyclable waste will make it in there.

"Not everyone recycles at their doorstep and not everyone puts recyclable products in the right boxes. That's why it is important to consider other greener technology for the plant."