Informant earns NT$100,000 per month catching smokers toss their cigarette butts in Miaoli Taiwan
Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/27
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
(Image by pxhere)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Becoming a “cigarette litter informant” has become a lucrative profession, with Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that an informant in western Taiwan earns NT$100,000 (US$3,251) per month, reported TVBS.
With the popularity of traffic recorders and hidden cameras, many have started to make money by becoming professional informants. In western Taiwan’s Miaoli County, an expert informant who reports on those who litter cigarette butts earns NT$100,000 for providing evidence of the offenders in the act to the EPA.
According to Miaoli’s EPA, 7,904 cases of litter were reported last year, an increase of about 1,600 cases compared to the previous year. Among them, 90 percent consisted of discarded cigarette butts, with fines ranging between NT$1,200 and NT$6,000.
Those who successfully report a liter bug to the EPA will receive 50 percent of the fine amount levied on offenders. [FULL STORY]
