Ian Malouf, the chief executive of Dial A Dump, is behind an application to build a large electricity-generation plant in Eastern Creek, hundreds of metres from homes, which would burn waste that would otherwise go to landfill.

He says the project will bring jobs, turn landfill and construction waste into electricity and is "the next evolution" in waste disposal, and backed by the scientific record.

But his company's environmental record, objections from nearby residents and the proven safety of the technology all came under attack during the parliamentary inquiry into the issue on Thursday.

"There's been 18 breaches at your facilities since 2001," said opposition MLC Penny Sharpe.

Company executive Christopher Biggs said: "If that's what the public record says, we accept that."

Ms Sharpe said the company's facilities had attracted another near-600 complaints in the past two decades.

Mr Malouf said the figure was skewed by the company's acquisition of a site at Alexandria that had been troubled before he took over. He said the company's only final environmental prosecution had resulted in a $700 fine.

John Graham MLC said: "You've got two submissions in favour out of 990 - how can you say that things are going well for you?"

Mr Malouf said "a handful of residents [do not] represent the community", and the project had been attacked by "grandstanding" political opponents.

The inquiry is into a proposal by Dial A Dump Industries for stage-one development on a $700 million, 1.4 million-tonne energy-from-waste facility at Eastern Creek, 35 kilometres west of the CBD.

If built, the facility would be among the largest in the world, and the plans have invited outrage from locals and the Greens.

At issue is the proportion of construction and development waste that would enter the facility, which some MPs have alleged could present a danger to nearby homes.

But Mr Malouf said a comparable plant operated in Leeds in England, and he denied to Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham that any asbestos would end up in the incinerator, which he said would be aided by overseas expertise.

Mr Malouf said moving the site further away from residents would also draw it from his company's landfill holdings and the electricity supply would undermine the proposal, which would help contribute electricity to the grid.

The EPA and NSW Health have both said they do not support the proposal in its current form.

In a submission to the inquiry Tony Khoury, the head of the Waste Contractors & Recyclers Association, said members were concerned that the state's Environmental Protection Authority was not resourced enough to monitor emissions from the facility.

He said the NSW environmental regulator was already too poorly resourced to crack down on rogue dumpers of waste, who simply built fines from the regulator into their business models and flouted regulations.

Waste has been a good business for Mr Malouf, who famously bought a $40 million, 53-metre mega-yacht called Mischief in 2015, a few years after enlisting pop singer Vanessa Amorosi to sing at the launch of a rubbish dump, along with jugglers, a magician and lion cubs.

The project will come before the Planning and Assessment Commission.