Plans have been submitted to build a £5m food waste treatment centre on Green Belt land near Yarnton.

Kitchen and garden waste from homes in the county could be sent to the plant, if the scheme is given the go-ahead by Oxfordshire County Council. And it could herald the return of weekly collections to Oxford, where the introduction of fortnightly rubbish collections sparked bitter complaints.

The scheme has been submitted by Worton Farm Ltd, the owners of the land, and compost company Agrivert, which is based at Radford, near Enstone. The seven-acre site, on land between Yarnton and Cassington, is close to the A40.

The plan is to process between 37,000 and 49,000 tonnes of kitchen and green waste a year. The site has been used as a composting facility since 2002.

But residents fear that the new plant would bring noise, dust and smells and pose a health risk for people living nearby.

Cherwell District Council has objected to the scheme, on grounds that it is an "inappropriate" development in the Green Belt.

But the county council's planning committee is being recommended to approve the scheme next week by officers, subject to conditions, even though the council has yet to announce the companies being shortlisted to build the giant recycling facility.

The council invited tenders last November from companies to build one or more plants to process kitchen waste, which it wants to see operating within 18 months.

As reported in the Oxford Mail, the county council is also expected to press ahead with controversial plans for a giant incinerator to tackle non-recyclable rubbish. No site has yet been earmarked.

Harry Waters, sales director of Agrivert, said it had decided to submit an early planning application to give the county council confidence in its proposal to build the biggest food recycling centre of its type in Britain.

He said: "We think we have a strong case. The planning process can set back the delivery of a facility like this by years. By going for planning permission now, we hope to remove some of the risk for the county council."

Kitchen and garden waste would be composted in about 20 giant tunnels, using a sealed, in-vessel composting system. The company already runs an in-vessel plant in London, which recycles 30,000 tonnes of food and green waste a year.

Michael Gibbard, chairman of Yarnton Parish Council and Cherwell District Council's executive member for planning and housing, called for an environment impact assessment. He said: "There's extreme concern, not least because for some years we have experienced a low-key composting operation and have been plagued by smells and dust. At Yarnton we are downwind of this site."

A food treatment centre is seen as key to a county strategy to reduce waste sent to landfill. About 28 per cent of household waste is thought to be food.