​“Incineration is stupid, totally unsustainable and will wreck your budget for years to come.”

Those were the words of international waste expert Dr Paul Connett as he urged a hall packed with dozens of Gloucestershire residents to fight any plans for a giant waste incinerator in Gloucestershire.

The lecturer from St Lawrence University in New York addressed residents, politicians and activists at a meeting in King’s Stanley Village Hall.

Using examples of successful recycling schemes from across the world, he said technology was not the answer to Gloucestershire’s mounting waste problem.

Dr Connett, who recently returned from speaking at the United Nations, said: “In the 21st century, the issue is about resource management.

“We would need four planets if everyone consumed what the average American consumes, and we would need two planets if everyone consumed what the average European consumes.

“George Bush thought there was another planet, and I hope he’s there now.”

He spoke about recycling schemes in San Francisco and in areas of Italy, which were diverting similar amounts of waste from landfill, at a fraction of the cost of incineration and without the by-product of toxic ash.

He said: “Incineration produces a hazardous toxic ash, which you need to find landfill space for anyway.

“The thing is, we won this whole argument 20 years ago. Don’t politicians ever read anything?

“In Denmark, they send all their ash to Norway, and when I was down in Plymouth, where they’re trying to built an incinerator, I asked where they’re going to send their ash, and they said Gloucestershire at Wingmoor Farm (near Bishop’s Cleeve).

“The difference is, where an incinerator diverts 75 per cent from landfill, you’ve got this toxic ash left over, but when you recycle 72 per cent, you’ve still got the other 28 per cent to work with.” He said recycling and composting were two of the most important ways to cut down waste.

He said: “In some places in America, you have these coupons, which cost $1.50, and you have to put those on your rubbish bags. Then, the people who want to save money become more clever about what they recycle and really save up their waste until they really need to put it out.”

He added that the problem needed to be addressed with a change of lifestyle, a post-consumerism, which would see industry change its ways based on a more conscientious outlook from consumers.

He said: “We need to stop companies using excessive packaging, by banning it, taxing it or avoiding it.”

He said activists in Gloucestershire should pull out all the stops to campaign against any proposal which could see an incinerator built in the county.

Four companies have been shortlisted to run a new waste disposal facility in Gloucestershire.

They have been asked by Gloucestershire County Council to submit more detailed proposals by late spring.

Council chiefs have not ruled out the possibility of an incinerator to deal with the county’s waste, despite protests from campaigners.

All four companies have said they could use Javelin Park, near Haresfield, as part of their proposals.

Politicians at the meeting included MP David Drew, parliamentary candidates Dennis Andrewartha (Lib Dem) and Neil Carmichael (Con), Stroud Green Party councillors John Marjoram and Phillip Booth, and Gloucester city councillors Kate Haigh and Nick Durrant (Lab).