The Australian government on Saturday endorsed the shipment of toxic waste from a chemical factory in Sydney to incineration plants in Germany, DPA reported. There have been protests by environmentalists in Germany over the plan, and Australian Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull had been urged to insist that multinational Orica deal with the 15,600 tons of the industrial chemical and pesticide hexachlorobenzene (HCB) at its plant at Botany Bay. Turnbull said an analysis found local waste disposal capabilities were unable to handle HCB and the best option was export. He said German authorities would need to agree to take the shipment before an export licence was issued. A spokesman for the German Environment Ministry in Berlin confirmed the existence of contracts between the Australian concern and German companies to dispose of 22,000 tons of HCB at four sites One of the sites is at Herten in the state of North Rhine- Westphalia, where the regional environment minister said he would seek legal advice to see if it was possible to stop the incineration. Eckhard Uhlenberg said there was no justification for transporting the HCB half-way around the world and called for it to be disposed of in its country of origin. The opposition Labour Party in Australia has taken the government's side. Environment spokesman Peter Garrett said earlier this year that "we've waited some 10 years or more for an on-site proposal or technology to emerge - that hasn't happened." Before he entered Parliament at the last election, the former lead singer with the rock group Midnight Oil campaigned for Orica to process the waste in Australia. "I accept that this is now the only safe option for the safe disposal of this waste - for it to be exported to Germany," Garrett said.
