The role of the island’s incinerator may have to be reviewed as environment initiatives reduce the amount of waste sent for it to process.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle acknowledged that possibility when it was raised in the House of Keys on Tuesday.

He admitted the government was ’concerned’ at the cost-efficiency of the energy from waste plant if rubbish levels dropped.

Rob Callister (Onchan) said when there was a push to take plastic out of household waste, the tonnage at the incinerator fell.

He warned: ’If we keep pushing those green policies and actually ask people to continue to reduce their waste out of their household bins, the tonnage going through this energy from waste plant will continue to fall, which will then increase the overall cost at the plant,’ Mr Callister warned.

He asked Mr Quayle if the current policy of the incinerator’s use would be reviewed if the tonnage of waste processed dropped below 45,000 per year.

The Chief Minister said: ’Yes, we are concerned that if waste falls, the cost and the efficiency of the plant will fall.

’By having that facility there, it stops people from burning rubbish uncontrolled. If it did not exist I would be concerned that members of the public might just burn the product themselves and do far more damage.’

He added: ’It is something that we will have to take into account and I am sure the Department of Infrastructure will be monitoring now and will be reviewing as we go along.’

The plant currently converts about 50,000 tonnes of waste into 25 million units of electricity each year, he said.