Most people support the government’s plan to phase out the use of plastic straws over the next 12 years as part of an effort to protect the environment, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
Citing the results of a poll conducted by telephone in November last year, the EPA said 76 percent of respondents backed the policy, while only 3.9 percent were against it.
Similar results were obtained in an online survey also conducted late last year, which showed that 73.7 percent of respondents favored the plan, while 7.5 percent did not, the EPA said.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
A ban on plastic straws would be implemented on July 1 in the government sector, and at all public and private schools, department stores, shopping malls and fast food restaurants, according to the EPA’s plan.
If there are no major conflicts regarding the policy, it will be promulgated in April or May before its implementation, Department of Waste Management Director-General Lai Ying-ying (賴瑩瑩) said at a public hearing yesterday.
As an island nation, Taiwan needs to clamp down on the use of disposable items to protect its environment, Lai said, adding that plastic straws are the most common type of trash found on Taiwan’s beaches, along with plastic bags and PET bottles.
There are regulations in place for recycling PET bottles and plastic bags, but the government needs to act now to stop the use of plastic straws, in line with growing international calls for such regulations, she said.
The efforts against the use of plastic straws would be implemented in phases, extending to all food court services by next year, requiring payment by customers from 2025 and a complete ban by 2030, according to the EPA’s plan.
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