Taiwan Today

The Environmental Protection Administration held talks with 30 department store and hypermarket operators Sept. 28 on adopting a policy by the end of this year at the earliest of not actively providing disposal chopsticks at the stores’ food courts. During the meeting, most of the operators expressed a willingness to work in line with the new policy, but some participants said that consumers might have sanitary concerns about reusable chopsticks. The latter advocated giving customers the right to choose which kind of chopsticks to use. Lai Ying-ying, a senior specialist in the EPA’s department of waste management, said that food court operators at department stores and superstores handed out roughly 21 million pairs of disposable chopsticks in 2008, amounting to about 170 tons in total. The figure represented approximately 0.5 percent of all the disposable chopsticks used in Taiwan during the year. The EPA noted that while a pair of reusable chopsticks, priced at between NT$5 (US$0.15) and NT$10, costs about 25 times more than a pair of disposable ones, retailers can save money over the long term by providing the former type instead of the latter. Raising the example of a noodle shop operator to make its point, the EPA said the shop used to hand out 12,000 pairs of disposable chopsticks per month, costing about NT$6,000 in total. Now, it provides reusable chopsticks instead and spends only about NT$1,000 each month on cleaning the chopsticks, which translates into NT$5,000 in savings monthly. A retail operator in the food court at the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taipei City’s Xinyi District said he is more than glad to comply with the new policy. However, he added that “for every 10 customers, five will want disposable chopsticks because they are concerned about whether the cleaning process for reusable chopsticks is sanitary.” An employee of the Sugakiya House, a Japanese-style noodle chain store with outlets at several department store food courts around Taiwan, pointed out that disposable chopsticks are not necessarily more sanitary than the reusable variety. He noted that many retail operators aren’t really aware of where their disposable chopsticks come from and that they often store them for long periods of time. He said that his outlet began issuing reusable chopsticks from last year. This has given rise to a new problem for the store, however, as many customers decide to keep the chopsticks because of their high quality, leading to greater costs for the shop. Another food court shop operator who began providing reusable chopsticks last year claimed that many store owners who adopt the new policy might shift the added costs onto consumers. He said the government should come up with response measures to deal with this possibility. Yang Chih-kai, a customer who frequently visits food court shops, suggested that besides ending the practice of providing disposable chopsticks, store owners should also switch away from plastic forks, knives and spoons and begin using more environmentally friendly alternatives. Noting that he is environmentally conscious but that washing his own chopsticks when he eats out is inconvenient as the situation now stands, Yang said the government and businesses also need to consider this matter. Pacific Sogo Department Store Co. Ltd. said that it implemented a policy of not actively providing disposable chopsticks from last year. Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store Co. Ltd. claimed that it will work in line with all of the government’s green policies. In addition, it said it will encourage its staff and customers to carry their own reusable chopsticks as part of efforts to improve the environment. (SB)