An example of an Envikraft incinerator. (0806052)

AN INCINERATOR expert is warning Guernsey against adopting ‘unviable’ plans for using micro-incinerators.

Jan Manders says that the island would become a ‘guinea pig’ for suspect technology if the island accepted the Rational Alternative waste proposal.

Mr Manders is deputy president of the Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants, which represents 360 of the 420 such facilities across Europe.

He was brought to the island by the Public Services Department yesterday to give deputies his view on the so-called Rational Alternative idea.

He described the proposal, headed by businessman Rupert Dorey and backed by the Guernsey Climate Action Network, as naive.

Mr Manders said the technology used by Danish firm Envikraft was untested and suffered a nightmare start at the company’s only similar municipal waste plant.

Envikraft has been backed by the Rational Alternative to provide two micro-incinerators capable of dealing with a total of 22,000 tonnes of waste.

‘Envikraft are a minor player,’ Mr Manders said. ‘It’s a small company that is manufacturing incinerators for medical and hazardous waste, which is totally different.  It only has one plant in operation using the technology suggested for Guernsey.’

Envikraft’s plant in Senja, Norway, was opened two years ago and deals with 14,000 tonnes of waste per year. It is still experiencing significant problems, he added.