A CONTROVERSIAL waste reduction scheme which could lead to massive rubbish incinerators being built in Lancashire is set to be adopted today.

Members of Lancashire County Council's cabinet are set to approve the Lancashire Municipal Waste Strategy, which sets targets for the reduction in the amount of rubbish placed in landfill sites over the next 20 years.

The strategy has been compiled by a specially-created steering group made up of borough and county councils as well as council officials.

The steering group produced a draft plan last year, which was then made the subject of a public consultation.

The final strategy, being presented to the cabinet today, sets even tougher targets for the reduction in waste being placed in landfill sites than the draft.

By 2020 the county council wants 40 per cent of the county's 785,000 tonnes of rubbish to be recycled. Currently, 85 per cent of rubbish is dropped into landfill sites which are now nearly full.

If those targets are not met waste incinerators could be introduced in the county, burning rubbish to create energy.

But green campaigners claim the emissions from incinerators elsewhere in the world, primarily Belgium, have led to boys living nearby developing health problems.

Medical journal the Lancet claimed rubbish-burning incinerators in Belgium had produced dangerous pollutants.

Lobbying group ARROW claimed the council had tried to push the strategy through by adopting it without discussing it publicly -- prompting the county council to place it on today's agenda.

Lancashire's only green county councillor Jonathan Sear, said: "With this strategy there is no chance that enough waste will be recycled to avoid the need for incineration. Lancashire needs to learn from best practice elsewhere.

"That means making it much easier for the public to recycle. We need to ensure that kerbside recycling collections begin across the county sooner rather than later, that each household has all types of waste collected on the same day and that staff are on hand to explain to householders how the system works."

Blackburn with Darwen Council had representatives on the waste group. It has already launched fortnightly recycling roadside collections.

Other borough councils are following suit, while Lancashire County Council is working to make its recycling centres more accessible.

A report to the county cabinet said a survey they carried out showed 89 per cent would like to see energy produced from waste.

It went on to suggest recommending the strategy be adopted, concluding that it was "challenging not just for authorities, but for every single household in the county."