The Formosa Plastics Group is approaching France and other European countries in an attempt to dispose of a shipment of controversial mercury-tainted waste.
The waste, which was shipped to Cambodia by FPG, caused an international uproar last December following the death of a port worker who had handled the waste, and a subsequent stampede of villagers out of Sihanoukville, a port city near the dumpsite. Four people were killed in traffic accidents during the exodus from the town.
The waste has been sitting at Kaohsiung Harbor since it was shipped back to Taiwan in April.
FPG general manager Li Chih-tsun (
The waste shipped to Cambodia consisted of 2,800 tons of industrial waste, and was returned to Taiwan with an additional 1,800 tons of earth and other tainted materials after Cambodia rejected it due to its unreported content of toxic mercury.
Alain Strebelle, deputy director for products and waste at France's environment ministry, said Thursday that the ministry had received a request to bring in 5,000 tons of waste.
The request to handle the waste had been filed by a company called TREDI, which wanted to dispose of it at a special plant in eastern France.
Talks with officials and environment groups in France began on Wednesday, he said.
Described in customs documents as "construction waste," the sludge is a by-product of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a widely used plastic. FPG is offering US$300 per ton to any site willing to take it, according to a Paris-based environmental group.
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