Recession boosts recycling

The economic downturn has encouraged people to recycle campaign banners, flags and posters for future elections or other uses.

Two days after Saturday's elections, thousands of campaign advertisements had already been cleared from the streets by garbage collectors from local environmental bureaus.

In Taipei County, more than 470,000 campaign advertisements have been cleared away, fewer than the 600,000 collected after the last legislative election. Flags accounted for 48 percent of the waste.

"Our garbage collectors will continue clearing away the few campaign banners and flags left on the streets," Chang Tzu-ching (張子敬), chief of the county's Environmental Protection Bur-eau, said yesterday after inspecting a number townships in Taipei County.

Chang said the reduction in litter is partly the result of the government's setting aside 37 places for more than 70 candidates to put up flags and banners.

In addition, Chang said, residents also helped by recycling. Some residents said that flags, mostly made of nylon, could be used as rope after being torn apart.

In remote townships, such as Suao (蘇澳) in Ilan County, residents have made a concerted effort since Saturday to collect banners. Some residents said brightly colored flags could be used to frighten away birds from their fields. Others used huge plastic banners to cover sponge cucumbers.

Advertisers are also recycling campaign banners to bring down costs. Many are looking toward the next local chief and councilor elections in January 2003.

In Tainan County, people planning to compete in future elections collected recycled flags. A recycled campaign flag costs only NT$30, much cheaper than the NT$70 it costs for a new one.

In Kaohsiung City, garbage collectors cleared away just 50,000 campaign banners and flags on Sunday, one-seventh of the 350,000 collected four years ago.

Kaohsiung City's Environmental Protection Bureau chief Chang Feng-teng (張豐藤) said that 85 percent of the campaign advertisements would be recycled.

Chang encouraged candidates to clean up their own banners and flags before Saturday, when all advertisements would be dumped with household waste.

Kaohsiung County is still littered with ads. Hsieh Chi-yen (謝季燕), director of the county's Bureau of Environmental Protection, yesterday reported to Commissioner Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) that about 53 tickets had been issued.

"We still have at least 34 violations of the Waste Disposal Act where fines have yet to be issued," Hsieh said.

Yu reiterated that candidates would be fined up to NT$4,500 for each flag or banner still up one week after election day.