Queensland could be burning rubbish to make electricity within five years as the State Government paves the way for construction of a $400 million waste-to-energy incinerator at Swanbank, west of Brisbane.

Key points: German company Remondis plans to build waste to energy plant at Redbank

German company Remondis plans to build waste to energy plant at Redbank State Government will devote $100 million from waste levy toward this and other projects

State Government will devote $100 million from waste levy toward this and other projects Plant could generate power for 50,000 homes and significantly reduce landfill

However, the interim Ipswich City administrator has expressed reservations, saying there was "strong scepticism in Ipswich about thermal treatment of waste".

Numerous approvals are required before the project goes ahead, but the State Government said it would set aside $100 million from its incoming waste levy to boost the waste-to-energy market.

The fund is designed to encourage investment in technology and new infrastructure to deal with growing levels of waste.

German-based waste company Remondis wants to build the new power plant.

The company currently runs a landfill site at Ipswich, and general manager Bret Collins told ABC Radio Brisbane the waste-to-energy project would generate enough electricity to power 50,000 homes.

"We transfer the energy from the waste we collect from council and businesses in both Brisbane and Ipswich City Council regions and turn it into energy," he said.

"We sort it into materials that can be recycled and recovered and then we utilise the other materials that would have been going to the landfill.

"We then send that off to essentially a similar piece of equipment to a coal-fired power station, and turn the material into steam and then that steam is turned into electricity."

State Development Minister Cameron Dick said funds from the Queensland Government's waste levy would boost this project and others like it.

"The introduction of our Government's waste levy provides a real incentive for projects like this, building a new industry as an alternative to landfill," Mr Dick said.

"The proposed plant will convert between 300,000 and 500,000 tonnes of waste per year to generate up to 50 megawatts of baseload electricity for Queensland households and businesses."

Remondis runs more than 50 waste-to-energy power plants in western Europe.

Australia's first waste-to-energy plant is still under construction in Rockingham, south of Perth in Western Australia.

Artist's impression of $400 million energy from waste plant at Swanbank. ( Supplied: REMONDIS Australia )

What is the environmental impact?

Waste-to-energy plants do produce fumes, but Waste Management Association of Australia spokesman Gayle Sloan said these were not a threat to public health.

"The emissions are managed and treated," Ms Sloan said.

"I think the ability to be able to capture energy from resources is way better than leaving resources in the ground and exposing ourselves to leachate and carbon monoxide.

"We know that we have facilities in the heart of Paris for example, co-located next to residences."

But Ms Sloan warned waste-to-energy was a last resort and it was only a better option than sending waste to landfill.

She said every effort should be made to recycle waste before burning it.

Responding to the announcement, Ipswich City Council interim administrator Greg Chemello expressed reservations, saying any waste-to-energy facility in Ipswich would need to exceed the highest international standards and benchmarks.

"Our current thinking is that alternative waste technologies should be explored," he said.

"I understand that there is a strong scepticism in Ipswich about thermal treatment of waste, and I've already made it quite clear that smoke stacks billowing soot into the local air are simply not an option for this community."

'Better than burning coal'

Waste-to-energy plants burn rubbish to generate steam to make electricity. ( ABC News: Kathryn Diss )

Mr Collins said the process was cleaner than coal-fired power.

"There are quite a few reports published and this has been a point of contention for a long time, but all the reports point to the fact that incinerating waste is much better than incinerating coal in regard to its emissions," he said.

"We control the gases and we control the emissions and capture those and deal with them appropriately.

"We deal with the offtake material, which is both electricity steam and the ash, which we then do a secondary recycling project through the ash."

As the Remondis project is still at the application stage, it remains unclear how much money, if any, it would receive from this pool.

"This plan will have to stand on its own two feet commercially," Mr Collins said.

"I obviously agree with the Government utilising some of the funds they're getting from the waste disposal levy to assist the waste disposal community in creating environments to recover material."

The company predicts the project will create 200 jobs in the construction phase and 70 ongoing positions.