The four companies bidding to treat south west London’s waste problems are all involved in controversial incinerator schemes across the UK, the Croydon Guardian can reveal.

Viridor, Veolia, Resources from Waste and Waste Recycling Group are providing detailed solutions to deal with 200,000 tonnes of household waste sent to landfill each year by Croydon, Sutton, Merton and Kingston.

The four councils plan to spend £1bn on the 25 year waste contract after banding together to form the South London Waste Partnership(SLWP).

Somerset-based Viridor is embroiled in controversial battles to build waste incinerators in Oxfordshire, Plymouth, Cardiff and Glasgow, and has won a £3.8bn contract to solve Manchester’s waste problems with developer John Laing.

Veolia overcame years of legal challenges last March to gain planning permission for a waste incineration plant in Newhaven, East Sussex, and a public inquiry is due to be held on plans by the company to build an incinerator in Nottinghamshire.

The firm also went head to head with fellow SLWP bidders Waste Recycling Group(WRG) to build an incinerator in Buckinghamshire.

WRG plan to extend their existing energy from waste incinerator in Nottingham to handle 250,000 tonnes of rubbish a year, and have been given the go-ahead to build a similar sized plant in Hull.

And Resources From Waste, which comprises John Laing, construction company Laing O’Rourke and energy firm United Utilities, has been shortlisted to build a combined heat and power plant in Norfolk as part of the county’s £169m waste scheme.

Croydon Green Party spokesman Shasha Khan said: “The four players vying for the lucrative SLWP contract have not exactly covered themselves in glory in the past.

“These schemes are forced through despite massive local opposition.

“Incineration is a profitable method to dispose of waste, especially if the Government is offering a PFI credits that equate to 50 per cent of the set up costs for an incinerator.

“Whilst, waste companies see their profits going up, I see cancer rates, low birth weights and lung disease going up if the council allows this to be built.

“Health and environmental costs are simply being overlooked when addressing the issue of waste.”

A Croydon Council spokesman said: “We are well aware that the sensitive nature of waste treatment proposals often generates local objections.

"This is one of the reasons why planners have been encouraging comments and ideas from members of the public as part of an extensive consultation process on treating South West London’s waste.

"We will be judging submissions from each bidder on their own merits, taking into account local impact as well as the likely effectiveness of the proposed solutions.

"Until the details of the bids come forward we are committed to keeping an open mind as to the nature of the technology that will be most appropriate – although our position against any sort of old-style mass-burn incineration is firmly on record.”