Western Sydney incinerator hotly contested

Blacktown City Council remains strongly opposed to a waste incinerator facility being constructed in western Sydney despite the company proposing the project insisting the community would be safe.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry is examining concerns over the government's approval process and the harmful emissions the waste facility could produce.

The council has relentlessly voiced its opposition to the Eastern Creek incinerator which, if approved, would be one of the largest "energy from waste" facilities in the world.

Blacktown mayor Stephen Bali gave evidence at Rooty Hill on Tuesday as did the project's backer Dial a Dump.

Mr Bali said the proposed facility - which could burn up to 1.3 million tonnes of garbage a year to produce enough energy to power 200,000 homes - has no place in western Sydney and is an outdated approach to dealing with waste.

"We need to focus on mandating recycling rates and increasing the rates annually," the mayor told reporters after giving evidence.

Dial a Dump chief executive Christopher Biggs told the committee the incinerator would not damage the environment or the health of residents.

He said the community backlash was based on a "not in my backyard" argument and there was nothing he could do about that.