SYDNEY, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Denmark says it is canceling plans to import 6,100 tons of toxic waste from Australia for processing.
The country had agreed to take the chemical hexachlorobenzene that has been stored in Sydney's Port Botany for decades for processing at a facility in central Denmark, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday.
The Danish government postponed the first of shipment of HCB following public opposition in Denmark earlier this month and has now canceled the agreement, the ABC said.
A spokesman for Orica, the company that owns the waste, said the decision by Danish Environment Minister Karen Ellemann was made on political rather than environmental grounds.
"I think there have been some political issues in Denmark that the minister in Denmark has reacted to," he said.
"She has clearly confirmed that all of the permits are appropriate, that all of the technical issues have been met," he said.
"But from political reasons in Denmark she has asked us not to send the waste."
Environmentalists say Australia should deal with the waste at home because shipping highly dangerous chemicals around the world poses an unacceptable risk.
If Orica attempts to send the waste to another country it will have strong opposition, Greenpeace spokesman James Lorenz said.
"They should deal with it here," he said. "They should take responsibility for themselves."
