Maple Ridge council is taking a stand against any "mass burn" incinerators being built to deal with Metro Vancouver's burgeoning garbage problem.

Metro Vancouver is seeking feedback on its draft solid waste management plan, which includes a target of 70 per cent waste diversion by 2015. Part of the plan includes waste-to-energy facilities, which could also include anaerobic digestion and gasification technologies as well as incinerators, to deal with 500,000 tonnes of garbage per year.

"There's no magic to it. They do pollute. They pollute a lot," said Councillor Craig Speirs. "If we did one in this region it would be the largest single point source of pollution in the region."

Speirs said Europe, which relies heavily on incinerators, has higher cancer rates and more pollution.

"We don't have to go down that road, we really don't. We have options that aren't available to Europe," he said.

Speirs said the landfill in Cache Creek is a "very effective way of encapsulating garbage which can be dealt with later if we find a way of doing that or just to keep a lot of those very toxic chemicals that results from burning out of the air."

Speirs expressed concern that building incinerators would lead to burning material that could be diverting from the waste stream.

"It doesn't matter if it's private or a government-produced facility. You have to feed the beast. That's just the way it works," he said.

Speirs said he'd like to see more of a focus on reducing garbage generation and he said he'd like to see a more ambitious target of 80 per cent diversion by 2015.

Coun. Linda King said she wants to see more of a focus on reduction.

"I think the main task that's in front of all of us as individuals and a community is to become less wasteful," she said.

asteele@mrtimes.com