- James Howells has lost his legal bid to recover a hard drive, discarded in 2013, containing bitcoins now valued at $750 million
- The High Court ruled that Newport City Council owns the hard drive under waste disposal laws and dismissed the case
- The judgment emphasized legal and environmental concerns, declaring the claim untenable and unsuitable for trial
James Howells’s attempt to retrieve a hard drive containing the private key to 8,000 bitcoins from Newport’s landfill has ended in defeat. The High Court yesterday ruled in favor of Newport City Council, confirming the council’s legal ownership of the hard drive under waste management laws, leaving Howells facing the prospect of consigning the $750 million loss to history. The judgment dismissed Howells’s claims as without merit, citing both legal principles and public safety risks, leaving the Docksway Landfill Site as possibly the most valuable landfill in the world.
Newport County Owns the Waste (and the Bounty)
Howells’s partner threw out the drive during an office clearout in 2013, leading to Howells taking steps to recover the drive and the 8,000 coins on it. His 12-year battle has led to court, where he noted that he intended to use robotics and AI to locate and extract the drive, giving a portion of the proceeds to the council.
However, Judge Keyser KC refused Howells’ legal bid, focusing on the legal framework of waste disposal. Under Section 14(6)(c) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, items discarded at landfill sites become the property of the local council. The court upheld Newport City Council’s argument that this law precluded any claim by Howells to recover the hard drive.
Judge Keyser stated, “The defendant’s argument based on Section 14(6)(c) is a sufficient answer to the claim,” dismissing Howells’s contention that he retained any ownership rights. The court also rejected alternative claims of a constructive trust or equitable ownership, emphasizing that Howells had no legal grounds to compel excavation or recovery.
Environmental and Safety Concerns
Beyond legal arguments, the council highlighted significant risks involved in disturbing the landfill. Excavating a site containing hundreds of thousands of tons of compacted waste could lead to environmental damage, public health risks, and disruption to waste management operations. Judge Keyser concurred, stating, “The implications of permitting such excavation cannot be understated.”
The court further noted that Howells’s claim, filed more than a decade after the hard drive was discarded, was severely delayed. While Howells argued that technological advances and investment made recovery feasible, the court deemed these factors insufficient to override legal and practical barriers.
Howells Can Appeal
The High Court’s ruling decisively ends Howells’s decade-long effort to retrieve his lost digital fortune. Howells can appeal, but the law seems so clear on the matter that appellant judges are unlikely to find that the judge erred in his interpretation of them.
Despite his legal defeat, Howells’s case has drawn global attention, sparking debate over the intersection of law, technology, and environmental policy. For Howells, however, the decision leaves his $750 million Bitcoin stash beyond reach, buried beneath layers of waste, leaving the Docksway Landfill Site as the world’s most valuable rubbish dump.
