Taipei Timesd
Date: Nov 06, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
Increased subsidies for underprivileged scavengers have stimulated the market of garbage recycling,
People hold placards at a news conference held by the Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei yesterday to promote its new subsidy program for individuals who do recycling for a living.
Photo: Lo Chi, Taipei Times
Many underprivileged people make a living by collecting and selling recyclable garbage, but some do not even earn enough a day to buy a cheap meal, EPA Recycling Fund Management Board executive secretary Yen Hsu-ming (顏旭明) told a news conference in Taipei.
Nearly 8,900 scavengers across the nation need urgent financial aid, board section chief Lien Yi-wei (連奕偉) said, adding that the figure only included those registered with the government.
To alleviate their predicament and boost recycling, the EPA in August launched a new subsidy program, raising the prices of 12 types of recyclable waste that local government-owned garbage squads pay to individual scavengers, Yen said. [FULL STORY]
