Taiwan’s standing as one of the world leaders in recycling was praised May 17 in an article published by The Wall Street Journal as an “international poster child” in the field, underscoring the success of government efforts in raising national awareness of the need for responsible garbage disposal and heightened environmental protection.
Taiwan boasts one of the world’s highest recycling rates with the Environmental Protection Administration statistics showing recycling rates for household garbage reaching 55 percent in 2015. Such a performance puts the country on par with international leaders like Austria, Germany and South Korea, according to the WSJ article.
In response to the article, Lu Shi-chang, deputy commissioner at Taipei City Government’s Department of Environmental Protection, accredited the capital’s recycling results partly to the trash bag policy. Since 2000 and 2010, respectively, Taipei and New Taipei cities have required the disposal of unrecyclable waste in government-certified plastic bags—with fines up to NT$6,000 (US$184) for violators according to the Waste Disposal Act.
Despite initial resistances from community leaders, this policy quickly won support from Taipei residents, Lu said. Today, the greater Taipei area boasts the country’s highest recycling rate of more than 60 percent.
Now, buying blue garbage bags of different sizes at convenience stores is part of the city life’s daily routines, which include separating trash into unrecyclables, kitchen waste and recyclables like cans, glass bottles, paper items and plastic containers, which can be taken to nearby pickup spots every night except on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Across the country, with one of the world’s highest population densities, Taiwan has worked actively for two decades to address the concerns of environmental movements calling for effective waste management. In 1997, the EPA established a fund that helps subsidize local collection and recycling industries, a crucial move to coordinate public and private sectors initiatives encouraging recycling and reducing garbage.
The EPA’s continuous efforts in collaboration with local governments, together with nongovernmental groups dedicated to environmental work, have yielded significant results. In the late 1980s, Taiwan’s garbage volume reached a record high of more than eight million tonnes a year. The volume dropped to around 7.2 million tonnes in 2015, as the EPA statistics indicate, while the nation saw a population increase of three million people or 15 percent during the same period.(KTJ-E)
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