EPA faces dilemmas in two incinerator construction projects

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 29, 2006. It reports that the Environmental Protection Administration recently came under attack by Hsinchu and Miaoli counties. Both counties are currently struggling with dilemmas over how to manage waste.

The Hsinchu County Government said that if the Environmental Protection Administration insisted on ceasing the construction of a new incinerator in the county, then the government agency should handle the county's garbage over the next 20 years.

According to officials from the Hsinchu County Government, six of the county's eight landfills are already full, and the remaining two can only be counted for another year at best. Currently, the garbage in 5 of the county's 13 townships is being shipped off to incinerators in Hsinchu City and Taichung County. Without the operation of a local incinerator, officials do not know where the garbage will be taken care of in the 20 years to come. They also demand that the Environmental Protection Administration should pay the NT$3.9 billion compensation requested by the incinerator's contractor when the construction was terminated in September 2005.

At present, the new incinerator in Hsinchu County is about 75 percent completed. The Hsinchu County Government expects the incinerator to handle 300 tons of garbage per day once it is in operation.

Meanwhile, in sharp contrast, the Environmental Protection Administration recently decided to allow work on a private incinerator project in Miaoli County to continue. The Miaoli County Government praised the decision, saying that it will help the county solve its waste disposal problems.

According to officials from the Miaoli County Government, nearly all of the county's 18 landfills are becoming full. Therefore, the completion of the new incinerator, which is currently nearly 70 percent finished, will be very helpful.

However, environmentalists from Miaoli County said that the Environmental Protection Administration should immediately stop the construction of the new incinerator in the county, in order to avoid any endangering of natural habitats. Environmentalists from Hsinchu County also argued that the incinerator in that county will damage the mangroves in that area.

In response to all these complaints, officials from the Environmental Protection Administration said that its decisions are based on the possibilities for collaboration between Hsinchu and Miaoli counties. Now that people in Taiwan have become familiar with the concept of recycling, the amount of garbage sent to landfills and incinerators should be reduced. It is expected that by 2007, Taiwan's 26 incinerators expected to operate by that time can managed the estimated 22,081 tons of garbage generated every day.