Australia and Denmark will discuss what to do with a shipment of hazardous chemical waste which had been due to sail to northern Europe for disposal, Australia's Environment Minister Tony Burke said Friday.
The Danish government Thursday postponed a plan to accept some 44 containers of highly toxic hexachlorobenzene (HCB) due to be processed at a facility in Nyborg, in central Denmark, following pressure from the opposition.
Australia approved the shipment in August, acknowledging that there was no adequate treatment facility in Australia to destroy the chemical waste, a by-product of solvents made between 1964 and 1991.
"The Danish environment minister has said that she wishes to discuss the matter with me," Burke told AFP via an email.
"It would not be appropriate to comment on the arrangements for dealing with the HCB waste until those discussions with the Danish government have occurred."
The Australian explosives company Orica, which has been storing the waste in Sydney for decades as it seeks a disposal solution, said it was disappointed with the Danish delay but would continue talks with both governments.
"The shipment has been approved by both the Australian and Danish Governments under the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste," the company said in a statement.
The shipment of Orica's 6,100 tonnes of toxic chemicals was Friday targeted by Greenpeace activists who spray-painted the containers with the words "toxic shame" and a skull-and-cross bones as it sat on a dock.
Police were called but no arrests were made, Greenpeace said.
Environmentalists argue that Australia should deal with the waste at home, and that shipping highly dangerous chemicals around the world poses an unacceptable risk.
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