North Korea next stop for toxic waste

Archiv – The country of North Korea is planning to recycle waste that is so polluted that other countries refuse to handle it. The Stalinist regime is tendering for bids to process toxic waste at a refurbished port close to the capital Pyongyang as part of its desperate efforts to earn foreign currency.
North Korea | The country of North Korea is planning to recycle waste that is so polluted that other countries refuse to handle it. The Stalinist regime is tendering for bids to process toxic waste at a refurbished port close to the capital Pyongyang as part of its desperate efforts to earn foreign currency.
According to UK news paper The Telegraph, through a Chinese-language website ( www.uniboss.com.cn/project/Info.asp?ID=778 ) the country is seeking supplies of plastic and electronic waste which “can be processed in the port but which other countries and territories are restricted from dealing in”, reflecting the country’s dire economic plight and its scant regard for international norms.
North Korea appears to have been inspired by neighbouring China, which is itself a major importer of toxic waste and is one of North Korea’s few close friends. Greenpeace China, based in Hong Kong, reported this month that it had intercepted a container of electronic waste bound for the Chinese city of Sanshui in Guangdong province and that its import was contrary to Chinese law.
Isolated and desperately poor, North Korea is a beginner so far as toxic waste is concerned, although in 1996 it signed a deal with Taiwan to dispose of its nuclear waste from atomic power plants. South Korea reacted furiously to the deal and Taiwan was eventually forced to back down and cancel the agreement.
The project is pitched at Chinese companies, and interested parties are asked to contact a firm in the Chinese city of Dandong on the North Korean border.