By Yvette Austin Environment Correspondent, BBC South East Today

Homeowners across the South East are being urged to recycle more of their waste as the debate over building incinerators hots up.

An announcement is due to be made in the next few weeks over whether a huge waste incinerator should be built at Allington near Maidstone in Kent.

All that stands in the way of work starting on the project is a licence to operate it to be granted from the Environment Agency.

After more than a year of discussions between the agency, the company behind the plan, Waste Recycling group, and other interested organisations, it is expected the licence will be given.

When built, it will be one of the biggest waste incinerators in Europe, handling about 500,000 tonnes of domestic and commercial waste from Mid and West Kent.

Enough electricity to supply a town the size of Maidstone would be produced in the incineration process.

Local residents are fearful of the plant, but Kent County Council says it is vital because the rubbish needs to go somewhere.

Landfill sites are filling up fast and the authority says residents are just not good enough at recycling.

In East Sussex there is a similar picture with the county council planning to build an incinerator in Newhaven.

Campaigns against the plants planned for Kent and Sussex are gathering pace.

Many protesters say the public should be working towards producing less waste by using less packaging and creating more compost.

The recycling record in the UK is considered poor compared to other countries in Europe.

In the UK we currently recycle around 12% of our waste, whereas in Austria and the Netherlands nearly 50% is recycled.

Government figures for individual local authorities show some areas are having more success than others in convincing us we must recycle more.

But until we do, the building of incinerators is virtually guaranteed.