The Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) résumé simply glows with the scale of achievements it has performed for Taiwan since the founding of its first tentacle in 1954 (Formosa Plastics Corporation). Citing its significant contribution to Taiwan's economic development and to the self-sufficiency of the country’s electronics and information industries, FPG now claims that the purpose of its No. 6 Naphtha Cracker Project (approved by the government in 1986) is to "alleviate" Taiwan's "chronic shortage of upstream petrochemical materials".
The Source of the 'Shortage'?
Formosa Plastics Corporation was initially set up in 1954 to produce PVC (polyvinyl chloride, a plastic known to produce dioxin and other chlorinated chemicals during manufacturing and disposal). This was followed by the formation of two other corporations, Nan Ya Plastics to produce secondary products in order to "help consume" FPC's PVC, and then New Eastern Corporation, whose purpose was, naturally, to produce tertiary products in order to "help consume" Nan Ya’s secondary products.
In 1965, FPG branched out into the production of textiles from wood, simultaneously providing the solution to a non-existent problem--"discarded" wood, which they claim was "left on the mountains after lumbering". (At this point we will not go into detail about the landslides and rock falls that now occur annually in Taiwan as a result of over-logging, and suffice to say that the identity of many of the lumberjacks remains unknown, and the benefits, ecological or otherwise, of removing "discarded wood" from mountains have yet to be explained by FPG).
Provider and Protector
FPG describes itself as "a corporate citizen with roots firmly planted in the community". However, to be fair, FPG doesn't limit its goodwill to Taiwan but takes an international approach, shipping its toxic waste (illegally) as far afield as Cambodia, and offering the same service to the US. FPG has also made a name for itself through numerous health and safety violations in the US, such as the explosion at Formosa Plastics Corp. of Illinois in April 2004 that killed five workers and earned the company a US$361,500 fine from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
As do all good corporations, FPG advocates Environmental Protection. For some insight into how urgently the corporation strives to achieve its environmental goals, see Too Well Behaved and Chronology of Formosa Plastics Dumping Scandal.
Formosa Plastics Group at a Glance
The Formosa Plastics Group is Taiwan's biggest industrial group, with total assets of approximately US$47 billion (2003), and total annual operating revenues of approximately US$26 billion (2003). It's founder and chairman, Wang Yong-Cing, is regarded as Taiwan's most powerful businessman.
