COUNCILS in west London are eyeing up a much-coveted piece of land in Harrow for an ambitious scheme to drastically cut the amount of rubbish sent to landfill.

The Kodak Site, off Harrow View, is on a list of potential sites in west London sites being touted for a new waste disposal plant, the Harrow Times has learnt.

The large piece of privately-owned land is believed to be highly ranked by the West London Waste Authority (WLWA), which is developing plans to radically overhaul waste management across six London boroughs.

Jonathan Nulty, assistant director of the WLWA, said: “The Kodak site is on the long list drawn up for the West London Waste Plan, and all the sites are being assessed.

“It could well be Kodak comes out as having a high-ranking suitability site for us to take forward for waste treatment.”

A radical new way of disposing of rubbish is being considered, where the waste is put into a pressure cooker and converted into to fuel instead of sending it to landfill.

A Harrow Council delegation alongside WLWA officers recently visited a Yorkshire company which is developing autoclaves, the technology behind this type of waste disposal.

Mr Nulty said the autoclave technology, which is still in the development stage, ranked “very, very highly” on the agency's wish-list for west London.

However, he warned the process had a long way to go before any final decision would be made, on the technology involved or the site of any waste disposal plant.

A complete list of sites and technology proposals for the waste plan is currently being fine-tuned by the councils, and should be revealed when the plans go out for consultation early next year.

Councillor Susan Hall, in charge of the environment for Harrow Council, said she would love Harrow to have a waste disposal facility on its land to be able to deal with recycling more efficiently, especially one which would produce fuel and help with climate change.

Following the visit to the Yorkshire facility, Harrow Council announced it is looking around the borough for a 3.5 acre site which could house a waste disposal plant.

With space at a premium in the borough, the Kodak site springs out as an obvious favourite. But it has been privately owned by development firm Land Securities since January 2008.

Rumours have circulated about potential uses for the disused site, including a town hall and a central police base, but so far no concrete moves have been made.

Any waste disposal plans for west London, which still have to go through extensive consultation and procurement, are unlikely to be put in place before 2014 at the earliest.