Environmental Protection Admin-istrator Hau Lung-bin (
"If the policy does not reduce the amount of household waste after being implemented, I'll step down to shoulder responsibility," Hau said after receiving strong support from the DPP legislative caucus.
The first stage of the policy was launched on July 1, when government-run stores were banned from providing free plastic shopping bags to customers. Three months later, the ban on disposable utensils and food containers was imposed at government-operated grocery stores and restaurants.
The second stage of the policy will begin on Jan. 1. Places affected will include department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, fast-food restaurants and almost every type of retailer, except street vendors.
Last Tuesday, thousands of plastics industry workers demonstrated in Taipei against the policy they claim has violated their right to work.
Protesters said that since July, the policy has resulted in more than 1,000 job losses and that the implementation of the second stage of the program would lead to the loss of 50,000 jobs.
While the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) plans to press ahead, opposition lawmakers, including some from the DPP's pan-green ally, are lining up to block the move.
On Sunday, TSU legislators said a five-year delay was necessary to reduce the impact of the change.
Opposition legislators said the Cabinet was demonstrating a disregard for the nation's high unemployment rate.
"Hau promotes that policy to create a positive image despite the priority for the DPP-led central government to lower the unemployment rate," TSU legislative caucus convener Liao Ben-yan (
Today, TSU legislators are expected to raise the party's plan to delay the measures at a cross-party assembly meeting.
DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (
Ker said most of the party's legislators support the policy after listening to Hau's explanation.
Hau said that the Cabinet would spend about NT$1.58 billion on creating about 8,400 jobs for affected plastics industry workers next year.
EPA officials said the policy would only affect half of the 10,000 workers at 450 factories producing plastic shopping bags and 29 manufacturers of disposable utensils.
Officials said that both the EPA and the Council of Labor Affairs will spend NT$383.4 million next year on creating 4,260 jobs in utensil-washing or other industries for those who lost their jobs at plastics firms.
In addition, EPA officials said, NT$1.2 billion will be used next year on providing 4,140 laid-off plastics industry workers with environment-related jobs, such as cleaning streets and tourist sites and collecting recyclable materials.
Some DPP lawmakers, including Peter Lin (
DPP Legislator Eugene Jao (趙永清) said details of the plan still need to be worked out.
Environmentalists said the EPA should have banned the use of all materials containing PVC, which produces dioxin during combustion.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique