AN INDEPENDENT report produced by a team of waste consultants says the need for an incinerator at Javelin Park is not proven and the proposal potentially breaches EU law.

Ynys Resources Ltd says more modern and environmentally friendly alternatives to mass burn incineration should be considered such as mechanical biological treatment and advanced thermal technology.

In a 46-page report, the Welsh waste consultancy firm says the proposed incinerator is so inefficient that it qualifies not as an energy recovery facility but as a waste disposal option - on a par with landfill.

The consultants also say the facility would burn a considerable amount of recyclable material and would create around eight times more hazardous waste than was put into it.    

"If Gloucestershire were to invest in flexible pre-treatment facilities...  capital expenditure would be lower, recycling figures increased, hazardous waste arisings would remain level and opportunities for more efficient use of fuel and heat could be found," the report says.

Ynys also calls into question the business case underpinning the project, saying 'rather than providing service and financial certainty, the proposal represents significant risk to Gloucestershire County Council'.

The report, commissioned by the protest group GlosVAIN, says GCC could be liable for annual £1 million penalty payments by 2020 because of the terms of the contract.

GlosVAIN chairman, Sue Oppenheimer, said the report provided 'conclusive evidence' that the Javelin Park incinerator was the wrong solution adding that the group was now considering submitting a complaint to the European Commission.

"Stroud District Council's report on the landscape and visual impact of the scheme has already shown that the visual impact would be unacceptable," she said.

"The report from Ynys Resources complements this by showing that the incinerator is the wrong technology and too big to meet Gloucestershire's needs.

"We sincerely hope that GCC will now take note and refuse planning permission for this disastrous proposal."

Responding to the report, county councillor Stan Waddington, GCC's cabinet champion for the project, said: "The bottom line is that this report is fundamentally flawed and full of misinterpretations and inaccuracies.
 

"It is being labelled independent, but we have to be clear that it has been paid for by a campaign group which has made no secret of the fact that it is completely opposed to the plans.
 

"The fact that neither the campaign group nor the report's authors contacted the council to ask any questions or check any facts is extremely suspicious.
 

"If they had contacted us, we would have been able to point out the many errors this misleading report contains."