Solid Waste Disposal

As introduced by the Yearbook of the Republic of China:

Garbage Treatment

There has been a great increase in solid waste as a result of rapid industrial and economic developments in the Taiwan area. The amount of household garbage produced in Taiwan has nearly doubled in a decade, according to the EPA, from 0.67 kilograms per person per day in 1985 to 1.15 kilograms in 1997. Just over 24,520 metric tons of household garbage was collected daily in 1997, or 8.9 million metric tons for the year. On top of this, domestic industries produce on average 12 million metric tons of waste each year, only 43 percent of which is properly treated. Overall, 24,838 metric tons of garbage is treated properly in landfills or by incineration every day. The rest is dumped into landfills that do not meet EPA standards.

Another problem facing Taiwan is that many landfills are either full or nearing capacity, and constructing replacements is difficult since land is extremely scarce. In 1997, 72 of the island's 316 garbage treatment sites had reached full capacity, leaving more than half of Taiwan's rural and urban townships with no place to dump their garbage. The third stage of the Taiwan Area Solid Waste Disposal Project, which was initiated in July 1997, calls for the construction of eight regional landfills, 135 ordinary dumping sites, and 19 large-scale incinerators. At the close of the second stage of the program at the end of 1996, nine regional landfills, 161 ordinary dumping sites, and two large-scale incinerators had already been completed.

Recycling

A study performed by the EPA shows that about 40% of Taiwan's garbage is recyclable, including paper, glass, plastics, and metals. Recycling of these materials can not only lessen environmental burdens, lower the costs of waste disposal, and reduce dependence on resources, it can also create job opportunities and increase our GDP. Thus, the ROC has spent a great deal of effort on formulating regulations and programs for waste reduction and resource recycling in recent years. After Article 10.1 of the Waste Disposal Act was amended on March 28, 1997, a new system for recycling resources was put into force. Through the market mechanism, the manufacturing and recycling systems are now integrated to the effect that communities, local garbage collection teams, scrap dealers, and the recycling fund all work together to carry out recycling activities.

The Four-in-One Resource Recycling Program has been promoted since January 1997 that combines the efforts of the industry, auditing groups, scrap dealers, the government, and the public. In accordance with stipulations of the Review Committee of Recycling Fee Rate, all of the responsible parties will pay fees to a recycling fund. Independent auditing groups selected by the EPA will examine the recycling rate and determine its value by taking into account materials, volume, weight, recycling value, and the recycling rate in the previous year. Based on the stipulated fee rate and their revenue, the responsible parties pay fees to a designated bank to form a recycling fund, which is managed by eight councils responsible for different aspects of the recycling program: waste containers, waste vehicles, waste tiers, waste lubricant oil, waste lead acid batteries, waste agricultural pesticide containers, waste electronic appliances, and waste computers. Established by the EPA, the councils consist of members selected from relevant government agencies, academia, and non-governmental organizations, who are then appointed by the EPA's Administrator. Still, many legislators and several non-governmental organizations have suggested that the management and use of the recycling fund be made more transparent and supervised by the Legislative Yuan. Accordingly, the EPA has integrated the eight councils managing the recycling fund and in FY1999 will divide the collected recycling fund into two parts: a trust fund and a non-commercial fund.

Hazardous Waste Disposal

In 1997, nearly 147,000 metric tons of hazardous industrial waste were produced by factories, farms, ranches, power plants, waterworks, and medical facilities in the Taiwan area. As early as 1989, the EPA had already recognized the need to dispose of hazardous waste properly and proposed the establishment of a waste disposal center inside Kaohsiung's Tafa Industrial Zone. In September 1994, the Ministry of Economic Affairs decided to invest US$74 million to establish the center. An environmental impact assessment was carried out and the project received EPA approval, but public protests have prevented timely implementation of the plan. 

Nearly 20,000 chemical substances are used regularly in the Taiwan area, of which 6,000 are highly toxic. Pursuant to the Toxic Chemicals Control Act, the EPA released a list of 114 toxic chemicals; any production, import, export, sale, or use of chemicals on the list must first be approved. Under another EPA program aimed at gathering information on pollution sources, all enterprises that use toxic substances or discharge waste gas, wastewater, or industrial waste are required to file plans covering the proper disposal of all toxins. Companies are then assigned deadlines for setting up disposal systems. A company that has filed a report and received a deadline is off the hook until the deadline passes. A company that does not file a plan and is found to be polluting the environment is subject to the heaviest fine under the law, which ranges from US$11,111 to US$37,037. Under the Solid Waste Disposal Act, manufacturers must assume responsibility for managing waste, and violators face fines of between US$2,222 and US$5,556. Those who dump hazardous waste resulting in the loss of life may be sentenced to life imprisonment. So far, however, the ROC government has not needed to carry out any such punishment.