James Howells
A British man accidentally discarded a hard drive containing £620 million in Bitcoin. After legal attempts to search the landfill failed, he's now trying to buy the site before it closes. X / Squink @squinkgalonk

A father of three who accidentally threw away a Bitcoin fortune worth nearly £600 million is now considering buying a landfill to recover it.

James Howells, a 39-year-old computer engineer, lost access to his digital wealth after his partner mistakenly disposed of a black bag filled with old computer parts—one of which contained the hard drive storing his Bitcoin. Since then, the value of his 8,000 Bitcoins has surged to around £620 million.

Bitcoin Blunder: £620M In The Bin

Howells pursued legal action to secure permission to excavate the council-owned landfill, but a judge dismissed his case last month. Newport City Council has since announced that the landfill is nearing the end of its operational life and will close within the next two years.

Howells maintained that this announcement demonstrates the council's deceptive conduct during the legal proceedings and plans to use this information in his appeal. The 39-year-old, supported by a US hedge fund, said he's prepared to buy the landfill to conduct his tracking.

'The council planning on closing the landfill so soon is quite a surprise, especially since Newport City Council claimed in their recent High Court statements that closing the landfill to allow me to search would have a huge detrimental impact on the people of Newport, whilst at the same time they were planning to close the landfill anyway,' Howells said.

'That is very much something I will look forward to highlighting in the upcoming Royal Court of Appeal case that was filed recently. Not a good look for a local authority. As for the closure of the landfill itself, I expected it would be closed in the coming years because it's 80/90 per cent full - but didn't expect its closure so soon,' he added.

A New Hope: Buying The Landfill

'If Newport City Council would be willing, I would potentially be interested in purchasing the landfill site "as is" from Newport City Council and have discussed this option recently with investment partners and it is something that is very much on the table, if the other party would agree to negotiate at market rates.'

A council spokesman said: 'The landfill has been in exploitation since the early 2000s and is coming to the end of its life, therefore the council is working on a planned closure and capping of the site over the next two years.'

This development coincides with plans to convert a portion of the Docks Way site in Newport into a solar farm, which will provide power for the council's electric garbage trucks, according to a report by DailyMail. Howells filed a lawsuit against Newport City Council seeking legal authorisation to search for the lost hard drive. Still, the local authority moved to dismiss the claim, and a judge sided with the council.

The Council's Perspective

Judge Keyser, presiding as a High Court judge, stated that Howells's claim had 'no realistic prospect of succeeding' if it proceeded to trial. ''I consider that the particulars of claim do not show any reasonable grounds for bringing this case,' Judge Keyser said.

'I also consider that the claim would have no realistic prospect of succeeding if it went to trial and that there is no other compelling reason why it should be disposed of at trial.' he added. Howells was present at Cardiff Civil Justice Centre in December, where a legal team financed by a US hedge fund represented him in his case against Newport City Council.

Having accidentally disposed of the hard drive with other computer parts, he instantly knew his mistake and has repeatedly asked for it back, yet the council has remained steadfast in its denial. It has been buried in the landfill ever since, covered by layers of additional waste.

During the hearing, Judge Keyser described his search as looking for 'a needle in a haystack' and ruled that his legal attempt had 'no realistic prospect of success.' Howells expressed his deep disappointment with the unfavourable judgment, stating, 'I feel that my case was not given the proper level of consideration that the value of the asset in question deserved.'