Campaigners repeated calls for a 'no burn' policy in Oxfordshire as the county council confirmed no decision has been taken on the future of waste disposal.

Friends of the Earth say building an incinerator to burn rubbish which cannot be recycled or sent to landfill sites would be unacceptable.

Instead, it says the county should aspire to a 'zero waste' strategy and aim to hit recycling and composting targets of 50 per cent by 2101, and 75 per cent by 2015.

Campaigners took their message to County Hall handing in a petition signed by 600 people, and 16 youngsters from the Oxford Youth Dance organisation performed to express their concern.

The county's current recycling figure -- 30 per cent -- is higher than most other areas of the country, but the Government has said that by 2020, a total of 75 per cent will have to be diverted from landfill.

In Oxfordshire, the gap between recycling and landfill must be met by some other kind of treatment. There are a range of options but no decision has been made.

Richard Dudding, Oxfordshire's director for environment and economy, said: "Oxfordshire has made excellent progress and will achieve our statutory recycling target a year early. However, we have tough targets to divert waste away from landfill, and recycling and composting alone will not achieve this."

But Andrew Wood, spokesman for Oxfordshire Friends of the Earth, said more could be done to provide a greener environment.

He said: "Overall, the recycling rates in Oxfordshire are very low. In Oxford City it's below 15 per cent which is appalling.

"If the council is going to build an incinerator, there won't be the money to pay for recycling.

"We've asked the council to discount incineration but they try to sweep this under the carpet."

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