Legislators said yesterday that massive losses incurred by a plastic bottle recycling program should be blamed on the management of the project, and not on the system of rewards offered to consumers as an incentive to recycle.
The PET bottle (
At a press conference yesterday, DPP legislator Lai Chin-lin (賴勁麟) provided some recent statistics that showed the number of PET bottles collected nationwide from the beginning of 1998 until the end of 1999 far outstripped the number manufactured.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The total figure was 146 percent of the number of bottles reportedly manufactured -- a figure that suggests bottle production is going unreported.
"This highlights the need for an urgent change to existing recycling policy," Lai said, referring to claims that the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) had failed to properly examine the PET bottle market.
Lai said that manufacturers have understated their production to avoid paying a required sum of money proportional to their total bottle production, to offset money paid out to consumers by the EPA for bottles they recycle.
"In addition to understating their production, plastic container manufacturers sometimes sell imperfect products directly to retailers that recycle used containers," Lai said.
According to statistics from the EPA in 1997, about 1.22 percent of flawed PET bottles -- which never made it to the market -- have been recycled as if they were actually used. However, it is believed that the real situation could be far worse than statistics show.
Lai also said that the EPA rewarded consumers with NT$1 for each bottle recycled, while only charging manufacturers NT$0.7 per bottle produced.
In a bid to slow the rate of financial loss, the EPA decided early this month to downwardly adjust the existing per-bottle refund from NT$1 to NT$0.5 for consumers who recycle PET bottles, to be effective from March.
In addition, the EPA announced that refunds would be canceled altogether in September to avoid further financial losses.
However, legislators said that the cancelation of the refund was not the ultimate solution to existing financial losses. Fixing the flawed recycling policy should be the first priority for the EPA's Recyclable Resources Foundation (
Foundation officials, responding to the legislators' accusations, said inspection of PET bottle production would be carried out more strictly, and debts owed by manufacturers would be pursued.
Officials said that the cancelation of the refund was intended to eliminate the loss-making situation, adding that the NT$1 per bottle was available only for PVC containers, including PET bottles, one of 29 types of recyclable containers listed by the EPA.
"The reward strategy was to encourage people to recycle reusable materials, such as PET bottles, because recycling was un almost unheard of phenomenon at the time," said Shen Chih-shiou (
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS