Taiwan's efforts to recycle old computers have been praised by representatives of several Asian countries, who attended a recent international workshop held by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).
EPA officials said yesterday that international cooperation in the field of recycling technologies would be carried out soon.
In addition to attending the workshop, environmental officials and waste management experts from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Palau also visited the Super Dragon Technology Co (佳龍科技股份有限公司) in Taoyuan County recently, where old computers are processed.
After observing the dismantling, crunching, classifying and recycling of useful metals -- such as gold, silver and copper -- the visitors were full of praise.
A high-ranking environmental official from Indonesia, Teguh Irawan, expressed to EPA officials his desire to import recycling-related technologies.
EPA officials said yesterday at a press conference that Taiwan has been playing a key role in recycling used electronics because existing recycling policies, first implemented in July 1998, had made Taiwan the first country to conduct compulsory recycling of used computer hardware, including central processing units, monitors and notebook computers.
By the end of October this year, EPA officials said, about 1,400,000 used computers had been recycled. EPA officials said they were satisfied with the recycling rate -- about 75 percent of all used computers.
EPA officials said yesterday that recycling old computer hardware was important in Taiwan, which is the world's third-largest producer of IT equipment. EPA officials said efforts made on IT-related environmental protection could improve the competitive ability of Taiwan's IT industry.
"Taiwan is approaching another stage of environmental protection in which recycling policy will have a high priority," Lin Jun-yi (林俊義), head of the EPA, said yesterday.
Environmentalists, however, said that difficulties encountered by the EPA included the fast growth of municipal waste, a shortage of landfills and loopholes in the recycling process. In addition, officials cited the inefficiencies and mismanagement of the organization responsible for recycling which preceded the EPA's Resource Recycling Fund Management Committee (資源回收基金管理委員會).
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