Members of the council's decision-making Cabinet yesterday gave the go-ahead for private companies to bid to carry out waste management treatment on the borough's behalf.

South Tyneside Council has joined forces with neighbouring Gateshead and Sunderland authorities to form a waste management partnership.

And authorities are under intense pressure to dispose of waste in a more environmentally friendly way – or face huge financial penalties.

This means sending much less rubbish to landfill sites, and finding other ways to dispose of it, with incineration just one of several options. But incineration remains a deeply controversial choice.

However Coun Eddie McAtominey, the council's lead member for jobs, enterprise and regeneration, said modern-day incineration was "nothing like the past". He added: "People have a fear of certain words, one is 'cancer' and another is 'incineration'. People look back 40 years ago and remember the incinerator at Tyne Dock, which was horrendous.

"But we have been looking at modern technologies from across the country. and it's a world away from what was available in the 1960s and 1970s.

"There are no emissions whatsoever, and at the end of the process a variety of re-usable substances come out."

A report to the committee says a number of waste management options are to be considered, aside from incineration. And no location had yet been earmarked for whatever facility is eventually decided.

Coun Michael Clare, lead member for environment, housing and transport, stressed that doing nothing was not an option.

He acknowledged improvements in incineration processes, but said several other options needed to be considered.

Coun Clare added: "We need to grasp the nettle, but not panic. We must take a responsible decision for all the people we represent."