Waste management in Taiwan refers to themanagement and disposal of waste inTaiwan. It is regulated by the Department of Waste Management of theMinistry of Environment of theExecutive Yuan.
Waste management was not centrally regulated during the early years ofMeiji eraJapan.[1] In 1900, the Sewage Disposal Law,[2] the Waste Cleaning Act,[1] and the Dirt Removal Law were enacted.[3] The legislation was aimed at improving sanitation in Japanese cities[3] and made waste disposal a municipal responsibility.[3][1][2] At the time, Taiwan was aterritory of Japan.
Under the Republic of China,Taiwan began to industrialize by the 1950s and 1960s.[4] In the following decades,industrialization occurred more rapidly, leading to a higher waste output.[4][5] Taiwan then became known as theGarbage Island.[6][7] To combat increased levels of waste, a recycling program began in 1989, following a 1987 amendment to the Waste Disposal Act.Recycling in Taiwan started as a private effort, but the initiative soon became overrun with fraud and other scandals due to ineffective government regulation. The private organizations and industries in charge of the program were free to falsely report recycling rates.The government established the 3R Foundation (reduce, reuse, recycle) in 1994 to discourage instances of fraud and other scandals.[8][9] Recyclables were reclassified into eight groups: containers, tires, pesticide containers, lubricant oil, lead-acid batteries, vehicles, home appliances, and communication products. Each of these materials were the responsibility of one commission, and the commissions themselves were overseen by theEnvironmental Protection Administration.[8][9] The eight separate committees initially established by recyclable material were eventually merged into the Resource Recycling Fund Management Committee. General oversight of the recycling program has been placed under the purview of the Resource Recycling Fund Management Committee, but a separate committee handles the establishment of recycling fees, and another committee is called on to periodically audit the recycling program itself.[8][9]
Taiwan's limited space to build trash incinerators andlandfills were recognized as a problem,[4][10] but from the 1980s and as late as 1996, waste was freely placed in the streets for collection.[11][12] At the time, Taiwan had five incinerators in operation; at full capacity, only 10% of annual combustible waste was disposed of via incineration. Other methods of garbage disposal placed a large amount of stress on existing landfills.[11] In 1997, theEnvironmental Protection Administration tracked the usage of 316 landfills. Of these landfills, 82 were full and another 55 were closed during that year because they were too close to rivers.[13]
In the 1990s, the government began enforcing waste sorting procedures.[14] People are responsible for bringing their own trash to the collection point.[15][16] In some areas such as Taipei City, nonrecyclables must be collected in colour-coded bags that can be bought at convenience stores.[6][7][17] Raw food waste is processed to be further used asfertilizer byfarmers.[18] Cooked food waste is processed to be further turned into food forlivestock.[6][19] Not all recyclables are collected daily; the most common recyclables have a specially designated pickup day.[20] There are 33 items considered recyclable, which in turn fall into 13 categories.[21]
Garbage collection trucks are known to play music to alert people of their presence at collection points. Songs played includeTekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska's "Maiden's Prayer" andLudwig van Beethoven's "Für Elise."[16][22][23] Starting in 2003, recycling trucks playedHou Dejian's composition, "Any Empty Wine Bottles for Sale?" as first recorded bySu Rui for the 1983 filmPapa, Can You Hear Me Sing.[24] Trucks picking up waste from indigenous areas play indigenous folk tunes.[25]Christmas music is played during Christmas, and atChinese New Year, recordings of Chinese traditional tunes play.[26] Local governments have occasionally changed the garbage collection song.[27][28] Other prerecorded tracks played on the trucks include short English-language lessons.[22][29]
In 2016, 76.8% offly ash fromcoal-fired power plants in Taiwan were reused in theconstruction areas, totaling to 1.703 million tons. Any remaining industrial waste frompower generation industries, such as wire, cables andscrap were reused by waste disposal contractors through open bidding process. In 2016, there was 4,950 tons of such waste sold, which generated a revenue of NT$533 million.[30]
As of August 2023, there are currently 25 large-scale waste incineration plants in operation. Among them, 22 plants are publicly owned with 5 publicly operated and 17 privately operated. The remaining three plants are privately owned and operated.[31]
The "garbage doesn't touch the ground" policy requires residents to bring trash directly out of their homes to the trucks, resulting in more hygienic streets in Taiwan's sweaty climate. Compulsory, government-issued bin bags – priced at less than 1p per litre – have reduced Taipei's household refuse by two-thirds, the director of the city's environmental protection bureau says...The songs are a key pillar of the system. How they were chosen is subject to a bit of folklore. On a recent Taiwan-focused podcast, Formosa Files, the cohost John Ross said the songs were preloaded on to trucks bought from Japan in the 1960s, and that later attempts to add other songs – including sea shanties and English lessons – were too confusing. Liou, however, says the trucks were bought from Germany and only played Für Elise. He can't explain where A Maiden's Prayer came from. The rumour inside the department is that a former director heard his daughter play it and added it to the playlist.
