A long-awaited report into what should be done with Gloucestershire’s rubbish should a controversial plan to build an incinerator at Javelin Park be thrown out by the Government gives the county three alternatives.

The report has been produced by an all party working group of county councillors set up following a motion put to the county council by the Liberal Democrat immediately after the county elections in 2013. Lib councillors on the Plan B working group were Simon Wheeler and Bill Whelan.

Build another incinerator, build a Mechanical Biological Treatment facility to turn trash into fuel and ship it out of the county, or don’t build anything and just send all of Gloucestershire’s rubbish elsewhere to be dealt with.

Here’s what the Tories and Liberal Democrat think of the plans:

Conservative

Councillor Ray Theodoulou (C, Fairford and Lechlade), Conservative deputy leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said: “This report demonstrates what we’ve been saying all along – that an energy from waste plant like we propose is a clean, safe and efficient way of getting rid of Gloucestershire’s waste which we can’t recycle.

“The report is clear that it won’t stop us recycling, and that, thanks to decisions taken when Labour and the Lib Dems ran this council, Javelin Park is one of the only realistic sites. It’s great that so many opposition councillors have put party politics aside to say that.”

Liberal Democrat

Councillor Jeremy Hilton (LD, Kingsholm and Wotton), the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “I’m delighted that this report is now in the public domain.

“In the event that the council’s current controversial contract proposal for an incinerator is rejected by the Secretary of the State we now at least have a ‘Plan B’.

“The Liberal Democrats have always opposed the building of a mass burning waste incinerator and have continually called for alternative technologies.

“It is good to see that Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) may be back on the table of possible options.

“We now wait upon the decision of Eric Pickles in determining the county’s future waste disposal.”