Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin announced Feb. 19 that prices for the city’s designated garbage bags will be reduced starting next month as a way of thanking citizens for their unrelenting efforts in reducing waste and protecting the environment.
“With the Neihu District landfill cleanup project scheduled for completion in six months, less money will be needed to handle waste accumulated over the years,” Hau said. “Our long-term efforts to reduce trash in Taipei City have delivered fruitful results.”
Hau, who made the remarks during a tour of the Neihu site, said starting March 1 the government will offer a 20-percent discount on all garbage bags, reducing retail prices by NT$6 (US$0.2) to NT$69 depending on size.
According to Hau, Taipei City has established itself as a model in environmental protection since introducing its pay-by-bag garbage collection system July 1, 2000. Together with other measures such as recycling, the city’s average daily household rubbish was cut by 66.8 percent from 2,970 metric tons to 986 metric tons in 12 years, the mayor said.
“These accomplishments have won international recognition, with many other cities coming here to learn from our success,” Hau said. “This proves that Taipei City is no doubt the capital of the world for environmental protection; we hope our citizens will continue working together for sustainability.”
Located on the northern bank of the Keelung River, the Neihu landfill was inaugurated in 1970 and closed in 1985. The municipal government launched the NT$1.1 billion cleanup project in 2006 to remove 2.23 million cubic meters of waste buried at the site.
Following the landfill cleanup, Hau said, the city government will begin transforming the site into green land for leisure and recreational purposes, building an eco-slope-engineered riverside embankment, cycling paths and roads across the embankment.
“The shameful, once notoriously smelly Neihu landfill will soon become the lungs of the city,’” Hau said.
Echoing Hau’s remarks, Wu Sheng-chung, commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, said more than 20,000 trees will be transplanted in the area, which is the size of three football stadiums, and all the slopes covered in marigolds, copper canyon daisies and cosmos flowers. Other potential developments include a children's amusement park, skating rink and tennis court, he added. (THN)
Write to Rachel Chan at ccchan@mofa.gov.tw