IT has been one of the most controversial issues in Gloucestershire for the past few years, but now that the legal battles are over and the Javelin Park incinerator is set to be built, the powers behind the £500million energy-from-waste plant are keen to stress the positives of the scheme.

Gloucestershire County Council and Urbaser Balfour Beatty (UBB), which will operate the facility, told the SNJ five reasons why the incinerator in Haresfield, near Stroud, will be good for the area.

Landfill

The Javelin Park facility will help divert over 92 per cent of Gloucestershire’s residual waste from landfill. This provides environmental benefits as well as cost savings, as the cost of sending waste to landfill increases each year.

It supports the county council’s aim of 70 per cent recycling across Gloucestershire – which would give us among the highest levels of recycling in Europe.

Clean energy

The facility will generate electricity, enough to power over 26,000 homes. It will also be built ready to provide heat and UBB is currently in discussions with potential users, supported by a £50,000 grant from the government.

CO2 emissions

By getting rid of methane producing landfill and replacing it with electricity generation, the Javelin Park facility will save thousands of tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.

Unlike many solutions, Gloucestershire’s doesn’t rely on trucking the county's rubbish elsewhere for disposal.

Jobs and apprenticeships

The project will create around 300 jobs during construction, and once the facility is operational, 40 people will be employed to run it. UBB is setting up an apprenticeship scheme to provide opportunities to local people.

Front-line council services

By significantly cutting the county council’s multi-million pound waste bill (£150million over the next 25 years), the facility will help protect vital services for the most vulnerable in Gloucestershire.

See next week’s SNJ for the opposite side of the argument, as the campaigners opposing the incinerator give their five reasons why it will be bad for Gloucestershire.