THE politician behind the blocking of previous incinerator plans is backing the latest £114m. project.

Deputy Public Services minister Scott Ogier (pictured) said Suez Environnement’s proposal, which includes an energy from waste plant and materials recovery facility, would be a good place to start dealing with Guernsey’s rubbish, but the island should not lose sight of the need to recycle more.

‘This is a better plan,’ he said.

‘It is not the ideal solution, but I think it is a stepping stone.’

The previous proposed plant, a 70,000-tonne mass-burn incinerator, would have required more waste to run than Guernsey was producing, he said. That would have meant using potential recyclables to keep the plant running.

But the first phase of the latest project would include a smaller, 40,000-tonne incinerator.

‘This is a fundamental difference,’ said Deputy Ogier. ‘No longer are we facilitating, preparing and paying for an increase in waste up to 70,000 tonnes. Instead we will be actively working to keep our waste low. We can now increase our recycling without jeopardising the efficiency of the plant in a way we could not before.’

He said the next step would be to focus on island-wide kerbside recycling, a proposal which was thrown out last month.