With the support of UKWIN (UK Without Incineration Network) Community R4C has published a powerful new report exposing the true cost of Gloucestershire County Council’s incinerator contract at Javelin Park. Rather than saving money, the incinerator has already cost £42 million more than landfill – and the worst may still be ahead.
The main conclusions from the report are:
To manage escalating costs and align with net-zero goals, the Council should renegotiate the
contract and implement waste reduction, reuse, and pre-sorting measures outlined in this report.
Read the full report on UKWIN: https://ukwin.org.uk/library/163-Contract-Five-Year-Review-March-2025.pdf
The Javelin Park incinerator has significantly increased costs for Gloucestershire County Council
compared to landfill. With the UK ETS applying to incineration from 2028, these costs will rise
further.
Instead of delivering £100m in savings, the contract has already cost taxpayers around £40m in its
first five years (excluding the impacts of electricity hedging), with more costs to come.
Transparency and public accountability have been undermined by relevant information not being
released in a timely manner.
The underlying waste treatment cost per tonne of £194 — including gate fees and amortization —
is among the highest in the UK, possibly the highest. It is around 50% higher than landfill costs.
While electricity hedging has provided financial benefit to the County Council, this arose from a
temporary price spike. The benefit did not occur in the first three years, and is expected to fall away
to ‘near neutral’. The net benefit to the Council has been £4.2m, compared to £42m of net
additional cost compared to landfill.
The costs of waste management would have been far lower had the Council instead invested in the
top tiers of the waste management hierarchy, i.e. prevention, reuse, recycling, and composting.
The UK ETS will impose further costs from 2028. The Council must act now to reduce fossil CO2
emissions from the incinerator to mitigate ETS costs.
Upcoming Talk – Cloud Café, 11 June
For those of you able to attend a virtual seminar, Tom Jarman will be speaking at the Cloud Café on Tuesday 11 June, discussing the report about the hidden costs of the Javelin Park incinerator, what we’ve uncovered, and what happens next. We’d love to see you there, do please sign up on this link here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/the-health-of-our-planet-the-air-we-breathe/
Source Tom Jarman. Community R4C. March 2025