Taiwan targets waste management

This article was written by Philip Courtenay and published by the Taiwan Journal on March 30, 2007. It features a recent meeting hosted by the Asian Development Bank in Manila, which focused on waste management and the efficient use of resources in East and Southeast Asia. Participants at the meeting included representatives from governments, the private sector, international institutions and non-governmental organizations. At the meeting, issues relating to effective waste management were discussed. Specifically, two researchers from Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration delivered a paper and drew attention to the heavy environmental burden carried by Taiwan, a small, densely-populated island with limited resources.

According to this article, Asia's urban areas generate an estimated 760,000 tons of waste every day. This figure is expected to increase to 1.8 million tons every day by 2025. Obviously, dealing with the growing scale of Asia's waste problem requires the efforts of both governments and the private sector.

Currently, each person in Taiwan is producing over a kilogram of trash every day. Every year, the amount of waste generated by the nation's industries reaches over 18 million tons. The government has introduced various waste disposal and recycling acts throughout the years. Among these is a proposal in 2004 that aims to establish a sustainable "zero waste" society.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Administration was established as a government ministry in 1987 to coordinate Taiwan's efforts of protecting and improving the environment. The agency is responsible for coordinating the nation's waste management and reduction efforts, including recycling, subsidization of incinerator ash reuse and disposal, industrial waste management, restoration of landfills as parks, and overhaul of waste import-export regulations. Specifically, in terms of industrial waste management, Taiwan has established many industrial waste management centers and implemented a complete tracking and control system. Although Taiwan is not a signatory to the United Nations' 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, it is committed to full implementation of the Convention's provisions.

According to this article, enormous business opportunities may be created as the world's countries move to establish effective resource management policies. In Taiwan, the Environmental Protection Administration also proclaims prospects in the waste management area as a golden opportunity for innovative and entrepreneurial eco-businesses. Indeed, in pursuing the goal of sustainable development and globalization, Taiwan has recently embarked on a significant 10-year Environmental Science and Technology Parks project, which aims to invite innovative and entrepreneurial eco-businesses to join the effort. Two such parks are scheduled to be constructed in southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung County and eastern Taiwan's Hualien County.

The Environmental Science and Technology Parks aim to recycle and reuse 2,500 kilotonnes of material resources every year. Their other goals include conducting research and development in eco-resources recycling, acquiring foreign cutting-edge environmental protection technologies, and attracting foreign businesses to the parks.

Among the other objectives of the aforementioned "zero waste" policy in Taiwan is the restriction of the use of plastic bags and disposable tableware and the mandatory sorting of household wastes. These have been implemented all over Taiwan since 2002 and 2005, respectively. Another regulation, on restricting excessive packaging for gift boxes of pastries, cosmetics, alcoholic products, processed foods and computer disks, came into effect in July 2006. This regulation is expected to reduce the amount of packaging waste by 6,900 metric tons each year, or 26 percent of total packaging used by products.

According to the Environmental Protection Administration, although the adoption and implementation of the strategies and policies of "zero waste" often encounter obstacles, Taiwan is working hard to establish concrete policies and objectives for campaigns, to strictly enforce relevant laws, and to encourage innovation and trials. In order to achieve the "zero waste" objective, the government needs to obtain the understanding and support of the general public, the cooperation of the private sector, and the open-mindedness of the public sector. The "zero waste" policy is indeed a crucial element of Taiwan's economy.

Philip Courtenay is a free-lance writer based in Queensland, Australia.