County Hall has been urged to resist building an incinerator to dispose of up to half of all its household waste.

Its neighbours at Leicester City Council believe it should invest in a ball mill, as they are sceptical about the merits of burning waste.

However Leicestershire County Council's leader said he was "not going to be lectured to" on waste disposal by his counterparts in the city.

City council cabinet member for regeneration Patrick Kitterick spoke out on the issue as his council agreed its joint waste strategy with the county council.

Although it was adopted, a motion was attached by the city council which said that "with regard to incineration, particular attention should be paid to minimising harmful emissions and careful monitoring of emissions in the interests of public health".

The city's ball mill, in Beaumont Leys, deals with all household refuse not been separately collected for recycling. The mill grinds waste into smaller pieces, which can then be sorted and processed. Metals are recycled, organic material is composted and cardboard and plastics are made into a fuel known as floc, which can be burnt for energy in industry.

With incineration, non-recyclable rubbish is burned to boil water, creating steam to turn a turbine which in turn creates electricity that is sold back to the National Grid.

The boiling water can then be piped out to heat local businesses or homes. An ash is left behind which must be buried.

Coun Kitterick spoke out after waste giant Biffa revealed last month it would burn 180,000 tonnes of household rubbish per year at a proposed complex near the M1, in Shepshed, if it won the county council's contract for 2015 to 2040.

John Dresser, of Biffa, said his firm's project was the best option environmentally, because the heat produced from burning the waste would generate enough electricity to power 42,000 homes a year.

The company has put forward the option despite also running the city's ball mill.

Coun Kitterick said he would encourage the county to invest in a ball mill instead.

He said: "Basically, any incinerator ultimately destroys what goes into it whereas recycling produces a product that can be used again.

"The other unintended consequence is that an incinerator operates at an optimum capacity, so there is a perverse incentive to produce waste in order to feed the incinerator.

"It has already been speculated that waste may be brought in from other parts of the country in order for the incinerator to work at optimum capacity.

"Ultimately the aim should be to reduce waste, so we don't need an incinerator.

"I appreciate the point that it does potentially produce electricity and provides a short-term answer to landfill – even the ball mill process produces excess material that can't be recycled – but we are simply asking for the debate to be had and all aspects of the discussion to be aired."

The county council will choose its preferred bidder next April, with a planning application for a site and the technology in April 2011. The site would open in 2015. Rivals to Biffa's bid are Veolia and United Utilities/John Laing Investments, who have not yet gone public with their own schemes.

Leicestershire Friends of the Earth predicts they will follow Biffa's lead and suggest incineration.

During the bidding process the council cannot express what technology it would like the winning company to suggest, but previously County Hall said its preferred option was an energy-from-waste facility.

County council leader David Parsons said: "I am glad that Councillor Kitterick is taking such an active interest in county politics.

"I am not going to be lectured on environmental and waste management issues by the likes of him, given his and his council's support for the Pennbury eco-town which would have been one of the biggest environmental disasters of our time. Thanks, but no thanks.

"Our record on waste reduction, reuse and recycling is something the city council could learn from. While we recycle over half of all our waste, the city council sends nearly 60% of its waste to landfill.

"We are investing £137m in exploring long-term waste management and treatment facilities for Leicestershire.

"This is based upon guidelines his Government established, using a range of technologies to enable us to take an informed decision on what would be the best outcome for Leicestershire."