A Teesside MP wants to use the success of a local household waste incinerator as a springboard to a national debate on recycling.

Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Ashok Kumar yesterday used a House of Commons debate to call on the Government to review its waste disposal and re-cycling options.

He held up the new Waste to Energy incinerator plant at Haverton Hill, near Billingham, as a model of green efficiency.

He told fellow MPs that Teesside now has one of the lowest rates of landfill dumping in the country since the incinerator opened in 2001.

Speaking during a debate on a forthcoming waste Bill, Mr Kumar said: "The thrust of the Bill is to put more pressure on Britain's local authorities to speed up recycling and minimise waste.

"A key feature of this is the need to cut back as much as possible on landfill disposal. I agree with this aim.

"But I think it is important to point out that here on Teesside, much has been done to achieve this."

On Teesside, households produce about 310,000 tonnes of waste each year, with a high proportion of this incinerated at the Haverton Hill facility.

The energy is then used to generate 20 megawatts of electricity - enough to light and heat a town the size of Hartlepool.

Mr Kumar said: "This process both recycles the thermal energy of household waste and reduces the need to consume fossil fuels, a double plus.

"I am urging the Government to be bolder in looking to waste from energy as a viable alternative to landfill.

"It is a proven technology and I believe that it is a recycling option in itself.

"Despite vocal opposition to this technology, there is no danger from the emissions of these new plants."

"I think we need an adult debate on ways to meet the targets fixed by Government."

Since the incinerator opened, only five per cent of Stockton's household waste is sent to landfill sites.