As Taipei begins its trial period for a new garbage fee program, the city's borough wardens and neighborhood chiefs have begun to make their dislike for the initiative known.
Fang Chen-chang (
"I think it's a better idea for convenience stores and supermarkets to do that," he said. "Some neighborhoods have over 400 households. We'll have problems if we don't take care of everyone."
For the trial period, scheduled to run between April and June, the city's Bureau of Environmental Protection has commissioned wardens and neighborhood chiefs to distribute free 33-liter garbage bags, plus discount coupons of NT$330 for bag purchases, to each household.
People will still be able to use their own bags if they wish, however, during the initial period.
After July, when the program is officially launched, only regulation-sized bags will be accepted for collection.
Garbage collectors will be allowed to reject bags stuffed beyond the volume limit, as well as those containing a mixture of recyclable and non-recyclable garbage. They may also demand residents separate and repackage such garbage.
Under the new regulations, charges for collecting domestic waste will depend on the volume of trash individual households generate, instead of on the consumption of water, as is currently the case.
The new regulations also stipulate fines of between NT$1,200 and NT$4,500 for those caught leaving garbage outside specified garbage collection points.
Residents in areas around incinerators and landfills will also receive fee subsidies. More than 16,000 households from five boroughs near incinerators and landfills will receive NT$1,476 per head in subsidy coupons as compensation for living near the facilities.
The city government insists the new scheme will save residents money. Under the current setup, average monthly garbage fees per household range from NT$250 to NT$400, while under the new initiative, officials said that would be reduced to NT$150 or less.
Taipei produces more than 3,000 tons of garbage per day, and garbage disposal costs run as high as NT$200 million per year.
Shih Yu-ling (
"It's not an easy task for people to change their long-time habits regarding handling garbage," she said. "Many are wondering why they have to pay directly for garbage bags and collection, because they're so used to the old way of charging based upon water consumption."
Wang Li-chia (
Tungjung (東榮) borough warden in Sungshan district (松山區), Chao Fu-hua (趙復華), said the plan has room for improvement.
"It's a good policy, but it needs more publicity before it's officially launched in July, and more recycling collection points have to be set up," she said.
Chunying (
"It's just too rushed to launch it in July. The environmental protection bureau should invite more borough wardens to the trial boroughs to witness the test-runs," he said.
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