An Environmental Protection Agency impact assessment panel was slated to decide yesterday on approval for the Formosa Plastics Group’s latest expansion plan at its sixth naphtha cracking plant area in Mailiao. The project has attracted scrutiny from environmentalists, because the site already produces more than a quarter of Taiwan’s total carbon dioxide emissions.

In 2005, the Mailiao complex produced 67.55 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

The Formosa Plastics Group — Taiwan’s leading petrochemical conglomerate — plans to construct three new factories in Mailiao, including one to manufacture “super absorbent polymer (SAP)”.

SAP is a material that can absorb and retain extremely large amounts of liquid. It’s used to produce disposable diapers, cosmetics, gardening materials and other products.

According to the Formosa Plastics Group, one gram of SAP can replace 20 grams of paper pulp, and global demand of SAP has already exceeded one million metric tons per year.

In the review meeting, the Formosa Plastics Group argued that the three plants would only slightly increase the complex’s total water consumption, because the group plans to use recycled waste water and advanced water-saving systems in the manufacturing process.

They said the three new plants will produce a minimum of 340,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. But the group says it will control total air pollutants at the complex by cutting emissions at existing factories.

However, the EPA’s panel said yesterday the Formosa Plastics Group needed to further reduce its carbon dioxide emissions at Mailiao. It also asked the group to come back with more data and more detailed explanations of its wastewater recycling system and the composition of its airborne emissions.

The group’s total new investment at Mailiao is expected to reach NT$230 billion, if the projects are approved.

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