A third attempt by Australian chemical giant Orica to export its stockpile of hazardous waste for disposal in Europe appears to have failed.

Last week residents of the tiny hamlet of Silaise-sur-Sanne in the French Alps brandished anti-Orica signs and yelled their opposition to the company's export plans as the Australian Orica-GreenEdge team flashed by in the Tour de France.

Leading the protest was Jean-Luc Perouze, who lives in the town where Orica wants to send its waste for burning in a high-temperature incinerator.

"It's out of the question," Mr Perouze told 7.30.

"Orica, stop dreaming. Your waste will not end up here. We will prevent that from happening. This is dead certain."

Orica wants to export its aging stockpile of hexachlorobenzene (HBC) from its Botany plant in the southern suburbs of Sydney.

"What we have put forward is the world's best solution for the safe and environmentally responsible destruction of the waste," said Gavin Jackman, Orica's head of corporate affairs and social responsibility.

Orica maintains the world's largest stockpile of HCB - more than 15,000 tonnes - which is a by-product of the solvent manufacturing it ceased more than 30 years ago.

Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith of the National Toxics Network says HCB is lethal.

"It's probably one of the most toxic substances that man has ever created," she told 7.30.

"It's a carcinogen, it affects the immune system, the central nervous system, it's incredibly persistent, it bio-accumulates, so we find it in breast milk and blood."

Orica has tried to export its waste twice before - once to Germany in 2007 and four years ago to Denmark - but both times local protests scuttled the plans.

Now, it seems, the company's application to have the scheduled waste disposed of in the Tredi Seche Global Solutions incinerators at Salaise-Sur-Sanne has also been rebuffed.

The French minister for the environment, Segolene Royal, said Australia should dispose of its own hazardous waste and not risk transporting it to France.

"The transportation of hazardous waste from the antipodes is an ecological aberration," Ms Royal said.

French decision a blow for Botany, councillor says

Her pronouncement is a huge disappointment to Botany resident and local councillor Brian Troy.

"I would ask them if they are doing that, is why aren't they blocking the entry of material from the rest of Europe and from Africa?" Cr Troy said.

"Why just this small amount to be blocked? They've taken much, much larger amounts from other places. That doesn't make sense to me."

The Tredi incineration plant in Salaise-sur-Sanne. ( AFP: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek )

Orica has made no immediate comment on the French minister's statement, other than to say the company is "reviewing its options".

"I don't think it's a viable option to leave this stockpile here forever," Mr Jackman said.

Australian environmentalists agree the waste cannot stay where it is, but have backed calls by France for Orica to dispose of its waste in Australia.

Dr Lloyd-Smith said Orica failed to take advantage of an alternative waste disposal facility that operated in Perth between 1995 and 2000.

The plant used a process known as gas phase reduction, but was shut down due to a lack of available waste material.

However, Mr Jackman said the West Australian operation was not capable of handling Orica's HCB waste effectively.

"Ideas that have been put forward do not actually destroy the waste in a safe and sound manner, or they are not commercially available today," he said.

Expert raises need for Australia to build own destruction plants

Dr Lloyd-Smith warns Australia will need to build its own destruction facilities.

"This is not the end of the hazardous waste problem in this county," she told 7.30.

"We have what's been described as a tsunami of POPs (persistent organic pollutants) waste coming towards us because of new listings of POPs chemicals.

"And those are found in some of the building products we use. A lot of them are also found in the electronic wastes which we are now storing in sheds all over Australia."

Common consumer items such as computers, televisions and mobile phones are laced with POPs as a flame retardant.

Dr Lloyd-Smith fears these chemicals could leach out and contaminate soil unless they are disposed of safely.

"I would like to see the Federal Government take the lead, bring Orica to the table, bring all the other stakeholders to the table," she said.