A waste-to-energy incineration plant that will convert garbage into electricity is the best way to deal with the Lower Mainland's garbage, say all three mayors from the North Shore.

The three North Shore representatives recently voted in favour of that plan after a contentious debate at Metro Vancouver about what do with the region's garbage in the future.

But before the project can get underway, households in the Lower Mainland will have to significantly reduce the amount of waste they produce and recycle more. The plan also hinges on an independent review of costs -- to make sure the Lower Mainland can afford it.

In 2009, the three North Shore municipalities produced 195,000 tonnes of garbage. It either went to landfills at Cache Creek and Vancouver or was burned in Burnaby's existing waste-to-energy plant.

The newly approved incineration plan would see the majority of the region's garbage sent to a state-of-the-art incinerator to be burned at high temperature, producing energy in the process that could be sold back into the power grid.

City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto said the plan makes the most sense, both environmentally and financially.

Continuing to truck garbage to a landfill for the next 20 years would cost more than a billion dollars, said Mussatto. In contrast, a waste-to-energy plant is projected to turn a small profit.

But there's a catch. The idea endorsed by Metro politicians also counts on the region significantly increasing the proportion of garbage that gets recycled or composted -- from the current 55 per cent of the waste stream to 70 per cent.

"We have to do a much better job of it," said Mussatto, adding: "It will cost us more money."

Just how much could prove key to the plan's going forward.

"The costs are significant, and those have not been pinned down yet," said District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton.

Both Walton and District of West Vancouver Mayor Pam Goldsmith-Jones said there's a limit to how much taxpayers will be willing to pay to do the right thing with their waste.

Mussatto noted that no government has so far been able to achieve more than 70 per cent recycling of the garbage stream.

The debate about what to do with the region's waste also turned on other philosophical and environmental points.

Some people felt putting any amount of garbage into the environment is unethical. "Philosophically, most of us would agree," said Walton. "But when was the last time human society didn't produce waste?"

Even if individual households lower their garbage output, the fact more people keep moving into the region means there will continue to be significant volumes of garbage, he said.

The most contentious issue was the plant's emissions.

Those opposed to it speculated that a plant might release dioxins into the air, add to the deterioration of air quality in the Fraser Valley or create tiny particulates harmful to the respiratory system.

But local politicians say the plan to incinerate garbage still adds up environmentally. Landfills produce heat-trapping methane gas after all, said Mussatto.

All three mayors said they've seen waste-to-energy plants operating in Europe and that technology now exists to remove the vast majority of potential toxins. Many plants in Europe operate in the middle of large urban centres like Paris and go completely unnoticed, they said.

"You produce more dioxins using your own barbecue than a waste-to-energy does in one day," said Mussatto.

"It's largely an emotional debate now," he added. "People don't know that the science has changed in the last 10 to 15 years."

Walton pointed out, however, that some European countries also receive significant funds from higher levels of government to manage their garbage. Sweden also has stricter rules requiring manufacturers to take back packaging, he said.

Mussatto said it's time provincial and federal authorities took a similar hard line. "There's so much packaging, it's obscene," he said. "I say we have to force (the issue) and say: 'If you are a producer of that stuff, the world is not your garbage can.' "

Metro politicians have left open the question of where a waste-to-energy plant would be built, but it will most likely be in Surrey, the Burnaby-New Westminster area or on Vancouver Island where power is needed.

jseyd@nsnews.com