More than 40 percent of establishments visited by Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) officials yesterday were ignoring new rules limiting the use of free plastic bags and dining utensils.
Beginning yesterday, the ban on free bags and utensils was extended from government-operated grocery stores and restaurants to department stores, supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and almost every type of retailer, except street vendors.
Most department stores, supermarkets, large fast-food restaurants and convenience-store chains complied with the policy, EPA officials said yesterday at a press conference.
After visiting 2,097 stores in several jurisdictions, inspectors issued 864 warning tickets to violators, according to the EPA.
Officials said half of the violators owned breakfast shops or snack shops. Many complained to the inspectors that they had difficulty in ordering paper bags and tableware, which they said were in short supply.
"We will soon tackle problems pertaining to both the shortage and prices of paper materials," Environmental Protection Administrator Hau Lung-bin (
Hau yesterday morning inspected supermarkets in downtown Taipei to see if retailers and consumers were cooperating.
Hau discovered that some retailers were still using small plastic dishes for condiments and a few were giving away plastic bags.
"We will revisit violators by Feb. 15 to make sure that the situation has improved and they know details of the policy," Hau said.
Many retailers, however, complained that the policy was unfair.
"We pay tax, rent, and now have to comply with the new policy. Why are street vendors in traditional markets exempted from it?" said a woman at a snack shop.
Some retailers said they would continue offering free plastic bags and dinning utensils until their stocks ran out during the six-week grace period.
From Feb. 16, those still ignoring the new regulations will face fines of between NT$60,000 to NT$300,000.
Many chain stores were yesterday encouraging customers to buy reusable shopping bags adorned with their brand names. Drugstore Watson's was selling reusable shopping bags for NT$19 each. At 7-11 convenience stores, they were selling for NT$29.
Many local authorities held campaign activities to inform the public of the implementation of the new policy yesterday.
Stephen Shen (沈世宏), director of Taipei City's Bureau of Environmental Protection, said yesterday that his bureau planned to inspect the roughly 10,000 establishments in the city affected by the ban.
Chang Feng-teng (
"We consume 600,000 fewer plastic shopping bags every day in the city than we did before," Chang said.
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