The Ministry of Environment Resource Circulation Administration (RECA) hosted a plastic life cycle exhibition Aug. 1-Sept. 13 in Taipei City, highlighting government work to reduce plastic pollution by promoting industrial transformation, strengthening policy transparency and governance resilience, as well as ensuring domestic practices to align with global standards.
Among the highlights is an area displaying domestic manufacturers’ products and technologies, including a tablet keyboard casing made from marine waste Styrofoam by Global Green Material Co., Ltd. based in central Taiwan’s Changhua County. Another section presents the recycling process for different types of plastic, while a further space shows various sustainable materials; the last exhibit section provides visitors with opportunities to propose ideas and suggestions to the government.
According to the MOENV, the event was held ahead of the Second Part of the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-5.2), which is scheduled to take place from Aug. 5- 14 in Geneva, Switzerland.
A delegation including officials from the MOENV and the Ocean Affairs Council will audit the event and update information by setting up a temporary center in Taiwan, the MOENV said. The event is key to the negotiation of a U.N. Plastics Treaty aiming to end plastic pollution launched by the U.N. Environment Assembly in 2022, the ministry added.
RECA Director General Lai Ying-ying said that Taiwan’s policies are in line with the treaty’s spirit of reducing and replacing plastic, designing for reuse and recycling, circular economy transition and managing existing pollution. She cited examples such as the country’s ongoing plastic restriction policy, encouragement to use re-fillable containers, preferential rates for enterprises to use recycled materials and the OAC’s Salute to the Seas initiative, which advocates for a robust and open ocean. (YCH-E)
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