The Swedish experience: A group of Swedish environmentalists - including the man who headed the government's own environmental agency for 24 years - has come out in support of incineration.
According to the former head of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Mr Valfrid Paulsson, incineration as a method of managing solid waste disposal is effective, clean, environmentally safe and profitable.
In a recent article in the Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Mr Paulsson, along with four other experts, said it was even better not to sort rubbish, except for dangerous materials, and said plastic could also be burnt.
Sweden, for long one of the most environmentally-conscious nations in Europe, has had incineration plants for the last 40 years. But it is only in the last decade that new incineration methods have been developed, making the process more effective. Today the country has 22 incineration plants, normally managed in co-operation between plant owners and local municipalities.
Mr Paulsson, who worked for the Swedish agency from 1967 to 1991, said he had watched the growth and development of incineration plants in Sweden and it had proven to be the best alternative.
"In the beginning we had problems but today we have a clean process which is self-paying and profitable for the local municipalities," he said.
"It has proven to be very good. We use the fuel for heating purposes, which means importing less coal and oil, and it is economically profitable."
In a few months the Swedish government will be making a proposal to parliament about waste management, and Mr Paulsson and his colleagues are now finding it necessary to tell people about the costs.
He says the gain for the environment must be worth the cost - and environmental protection is expensive.
Sweden in the earlier days tried other alternatives, such as composting, but discovered it was too difficult a technique for larger operations.
"The new techniques developed in the last few years see 95 per cent of \ being burnt down in garbage while the remaining 5 per cent is taken care of in filters," said Mr Paulsson.
"Through incineration, 80 per cent of separated plastic is destroyed. And the general dioxin level is still only one gram per year. Incineration is the best alternative for plastics, cardboard and household garbage. It's a biological fuel," he added.