Environment

Ban on disposable tableware at restaurants, food courts to start Jan. 1

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/07
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) A ban on the use of disposable tableware at restaurants and food courts in shopping malls will take effect in 10 municipalities in Taiwan next year, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said Saturday.

When the new regulation is implemented, such establishments will not be permitted to use disposable tableware for dine-in customers, or the restaurants will face an initial fine of NT$1,200 (US$39.34) to NT$6,000, Lai Ying-ying (賴瑩瑩), director-general of the EPA's Department of Waste Management, told CNA.

In addition to the fine, non-compliant establishments will be given a deadline for meeting the regulations, after which an additional fine will be imposed and increased on a daily basis, she said.

Restaurants and food stalls in shopping malls and department stores in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan City, Yilan County, Hualien County, Tainan City, Taitung County and Penghu County will be prohibited from using disposable tableware, effective also on Jan. 1.    [FULL  STORY]

Pingtung changes out iguanas for beans

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 19, 2019
By: Lo Hsin-chen and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Pingtung County Government’s policy of trading eco-friendly red beans for green iguanas has been

Iguanas caught by members of the public crowd a cage in Pingtung County in an undated photograph.
Photo courtesy of the Pingtung County Department of Agriculture

a success, with the county government receiving 1,317 iguanas — 747 adults and 570 juveniles — captured by county residents.

Green iguanas are an invasive species that could create an imbalance in the local ecosystem, Pingtung County Department of Agriculture Director-General Huang Kuo-jung (黃國榮) said.

The uncontrolled spread of the iguanas has caused agricultural losses, damaged drainage systems, and could endanger dikes and embankments, which would threaten property and lives, Huang said.

Females can lay 20 to 70 eggs per year and their young grow fast, Huang said, adding that the most effective way to counter invasive species is to solicit public help.    [FULL  STORY]

EPA demos recycling of wrappers

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 10, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday set up the first demonstration site for recycling single-use plastic wrapping at a Carrefour Taiwan store, with an eye on inviting more hypermarkets to turn packaging into reusable materials.

The amount of large plastic wrappings used to bind boxes of goods is expected to soar due to the Ghost Festival (中元節), which falls on Aug. 15 this year, when many households prepare food for spirits that are said to have been released from the underworld.

A wholesale store produces nearly 40kg of such wrappings every day, which mostly ends up in garbage incinerators, EPA Department of Waste Management Director-General Lai Ying-ying (賴瑩瑩) told a news conference at the Carrefour store in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area.

Through the demonstration site, the agency aims to nurture a circular economy model in which more plastic wrappings are recycled and sent to reprocessing plants to be turned into other plastic products, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Japan’s 7-Eleven stores to wrap rice balls in biomass plastic

The use of bioplastic wraps could reduce the use of plastics by 260 tons and cut CO2 emissions by 403 tons per year.

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/26
By: Judy Lo, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(Image downloaded from 7-11 Japan: www.sej.co.jp/in/en.html)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Japan’s convenience store giant, 7-Eleven Japan, announced on Monday (June 24) it will begin wrapping its onigiri rice balls in biomass plastic wraps from July, reported Nikkei.

Convenience stores in Japan have become leaders in reducing the use of fossil-fuel-derived materials. FamilyMart, for example, has replaced some of its plastic containers with plant-derived plastics.

There are 21,000 7-Eleven stores across Japan that sell 2.27 billion rice balls every year. By using bioplastic wraps, the company could reduce the use of traditional plastics by 260 tons and cut CO2 emissions by 403 tons per year.

Some of the rice ball wraps will be made of sugarcane-derived materials, a first among convenience stores in Japan. Although the new wrapping materials will cost more, the company said prices will remain the same.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan EPA raises max fine for air pollution to NT$20 million

Taiwan’s EPA raises the maximum penalty for industrial air pollution from NT$1 million to NT$20 million

Taiwan News   
Date: 2019/03/19 
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Polluted Taipei skyline. (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) on Monday (March 18) announced draft regulations that would raise the maximum fine for violations of the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法) by factories from NT$1 million (US$32,000) to NT$20 million (US$649,000).

In the past, EPA air pollution regulations have been criticized by the public for having “loud thunder, but tiny drops of rain,” with many complaining that the maximum fine of NT$1 million does not have enough of a deterrent effect. In response, the EPA on Monday announced draft guidelines which will raise the maximum penalty for breaching the Air Pollution Control Act to NT$20 million.

However, to conform to the principle of proportionality, the minimum fine for minor violations has been lowered. For example, the minimum penalty for burning in an open space has been lowered from NT$5,000 to NT$1,200.

Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Wu Sheng- chung (吳盛忠) said that the penalties will be more closely tailored for specific circumstances: “If the violation of the air pollution act is serious, we will levy a heavy fine, but if it is a mild infraction, we will amend the law to make the penalty lighter,” reported PTS News.    [FULL  STORY]

Google is building a solar power project above fishing ponds in Taiwan, its first in Asia

  • Google recently signed its first green deal in Asia, a solar project to be built above fishing ponds in Taiwan.
  • Building solar projects over water is becoming more common in Asia due to population density and competition for available land.
  • Worldwide, the floating solar market could reach 400 gigawatts, according to the World Bank. A recent DOE report said 10 percent of U.S. energy supply could come from floating solar power.

CNBC News
Date: February 17, 2019
By: Donovan Russo

The site of Google’s planned solar power project in Taiwan which will include the use of poles hoisting solar panels above fishing ponds.

Google unveiled an ambitious plan eight years ago to build a wind energy project in the Atlantic Ocean running all the way from New York to Virginia. That massive “underwater spine” has been slow to progress, but Google is moving ahead with its first water-based renewable energy project — it is just a little smaller in scale: Solar panels atop a series of fishing ponds in Taiwan. The deal marks Google’s entry into the Asian renewable energy market.

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, recently became the first company to make a purchase under the 2017 Taiwan Electricity Act, which allows non-utility companies to purchase renewable energy. For the 10-megawatt solar array in Tainan City, Taiwan, Google will install poles, with solar panels at the top of them, above fishing ponds.

The idea of building solar projects sited on water — known as floating photovoltaics, or “flotovoltaics” — is becoming more popular.    [FULL  STORY]

Policy cut 1.5bn plastic bags this year: EPA

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 23, 2018
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter
Additional measures restricting plastic bag use that were implemented in January

A man drinks from a McDonald’s cup in Taipei on Feb. 13.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times

have resulted in 1.5 billion fewer plastic bags being used over the past year, an Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) official said yesterday, adding that the agency would start limiting the use of plastic straws from July next year.

The agency in January expanded its ban on free plastic shopping bags from seven to 14 kinds of businesses, including beverage and bakery stores, and people who need bags now have to pay for them.

Nearly 80 percent of people do not ask for free plastic bags when shopping now, and many have developed the habit of bringing their own reusable bags, EPA Department of Waste Management senior technical specialist Lee Yi-hua (李宜樺) said.

The agency has this year inspected 90,000 stores across the nation and issued 118 warnings to those found in contravention of the ban, he said, adding that only two stores received fines for failing to rectify the matter after being warned.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan ‘very poor’ on climate change, but EPA says it’s ‘committed’

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/10
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Ko Lin

Image taken from Climate Change Performance Index website (www.climate-change-performance-index.org)

Taipei, Dec. 10 (CNA) Taiwan is committed to playing its part in the global efforts to tackle climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, an official with the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said on Monday, responding to a report by Germanwatch that gave Taiwan a bad performance review.

Germanwatch, a non-profit, non-governmental organization which lobbies for sustainable global development, on Monday released its Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2019, which rated Taiwan as “very poor” among the 60 countries listed in the CCPI.

Taiwan was ranked 56th, dropping two spots from 54th position last year, according to CCPI 2019.

The evaluation of the index is based on several key indicators, including emissions level, emissions development, and renewable energy.    [FULL  STORY]

Death by Drowning in Plastic on Taiwan’s Beaches

About 91% of the debris washing up on Taiwan’s beaches is plastic, which is not only unsightly, but also kills marine creatures and seeps into our food and water supplies

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/10
By: Jules Quartly

Volunteers do their best to clear the trash from Jinshan beach in New Taipei.

The reality of Taiwan’s tropical island idyll is that it’s drowning in plastic. Nowhere is this more evident than the nation’s beaches, which instead of being an attraction for your average sea ‘n’ sand loving tourist are inundated with plastic debris, swimming in petrochemical products, and overflowing with PVCs.

Beach bums, surfer dudes and weekend divers will all tell you the same, Taiwan’s beaches and coastal areas are a mess. For the volunteers who return each month to clean the beaches, it’s a bit like King Canute trying to stop the tide, however much they clean it up more trash keeps washing ashore.

Certainly, this is the experience of Duke Abrahamsen, founder and CEO of The Key fitness Center, in Taipei. Since June, his volunteer crew has been cleaning Jinshan beach, a 45-minute drive from central Taipei, as part of a community program that also helps feed the homeless and provides gifts for orphans at Christmas.

“It’s mostly plastic and fishing industry pollution,” Abrahamsen says. “Our beach has a jetty to the right and a river emptying into the sea, so it’s a natural collection spot for rubbish. It’s constantly dirty, even though we return each time to clean it.”
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan environmental agency commends restaurants for reducing food waste

EPA Departmental Director-General says annual food waste amounts to 60 Taipei 101 buildings

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/10/16
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(Photo courtesy of EPA)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In a ceremony to mark World Food Day on Oct. 16, Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) commended four dozen restaurants and catering services for their efforts to reduce food waste.

Forty-three restaurants and four catering services were lauded in the ceremony held at Chinese Culture University in Taipei to recognize practitioners of food waste reduction across the country.

EPA Department of Comprehensive Planning Director-General Liu Tsung-yung (劉宗勇) said food waste produced across Taiwan every year amounts to the volume of 60 Taipei 101 buildings. Therefore, it’s a pressing issue that calls for the public to pull together and think more sustainably, he added.

EPA said it has been promoting the concept of food waste reduction and hopes to see the food service industry, including food growers, suppliers, restaurants, and stores, take measures to reduce food waste for a more sustainable future.    [FULL  STORY]