In line with the trend of resource sustainability and “zero waste”, our garbage disposal policy focuses on “source reduction and resource recycling”. From the perspective of resource sustainability, we advocate mandatory garbage classification, resource recycling and reuse, etc., to achieve the goal of effective resource recycling and source reduction.
Since 2005, the Environmental Protection Administration has promoted mandatory garbage classification, requiring the public to first sort household waste into three categories: resources, kitchen waste, and garbage, and then hand them over to the cleaning team for recycling or disposal. The implementation of garbage fee collection measures in some areas of Taoyuan City will also help reduce garbage and recycle and reuse classified materials. In addition, after the implementation of the Environmental Education Act, environmental education will be further deepened, and environmental protection concepts will be more integrated into people’s daily habits in the future.
In the future, we will continue to promote various tasks such as reducing general waste and recycling resources so as to reduce or minimize the establishment of waste disposal facilities and move our city towards a sustainable resource recycling society.
Explanation of Waste Disposal Act and Resource Recycling Act:
The plastic restriction policy has been implemented since 2002. For single-use disposable items, when there are alternatives, their use is restricted by law with exclusion clauses being set for situations that are difficult to implement.
Following the plastic restriction policy, the reduction of single-use disposable products policy began with the promotion of paper cup reduction. In 2007, the “Paper Cup Reduction Plan for Government Agencies and Schools” was promoted, and in 2008, the reduction of disposable tableware in tourist hotels was promoted. Dine-in customers switched to reusable chopsticks that could be washed repeatedly; in cooperation with the four major domestic convenience store chains, the “Do Not Actively Provide Disposable Chopsticks” campaign was launched, hoping to use the wide distribution of convenience stores and their deep penetration into communities to help people develop the habit of not using disposable chopsticks. From 2010, we worked with 32 department stores and mass merchandisers’ food courts to promote measures to reduce disposable chopsticks: Dine-in customers switched to reusable chopsticks that could be washed repeatedly, while take-out customers were not actively provided with disposable chopsticks.
On January 4, 2011, the “Implementation Method for Source Reduction and Recycling Incentive for Disposable Beverage Cups” was announced, stipulating that chain beverage stores, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants should provide special offer or discounts to consumers for bringing their own eco-friendly cups from May of the same year; those who do not implement this incentive method should exchange two empty cups for one dollar to recycle empty beverage cups used by their own chain system. After the announcement was implemented, the use of single-use disposable beverage cups was reduced every year.
The Environmental Protection Administration has implemented a two-stage control on the volume-to-volume ratio and number of layers of gift boxes and computer program CD packaging. The first stage was implemented in 2006, regulating cake, cosmetics, alcohol gift boxes and computer program CDs. The second stage was implemented in 2007, incorporating processed food gift boxes. The implementation of this policy has guided the packaging of consumer products towards reduction and easy recycling. Since 2010, this city has continued to promote the voluntary packaging reduction work by businesses, with which voluntary packaging reduction agreements were signed to reduce the use of packaging materials from the source.
This city takes resource recycling and sustainable use as its main policy axis, continuously promoting measures to improve waste reduction and recycling and planning to promote waste treatment policies with greater environmental and economic benefits. General waste bioenergy centers will be constructed to move this city towards the goal of integrating resources.
