Taiwan, the largest manufacturer of compact discs in the world, will begin to recycle this product as early as next July, when required regulations have been established, Environmental Protection Administrator Chang Juu-en (張祖恩) said yesterday.
Officials from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday were criticized by legislators for their lax efforts to recycle compact discs, which are composed of plastic materials and diverse metals, including aluminum, gold, silver and titanium.
According to legislators, Taiwan produces 5.5 billion compact discs annually, including 4.7 billion discs for overseas markets. Common compact discs are classified into read-only memory (CD-ROM), recordable disc (CD-R) and rewritable disc (CD-RW).
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Kuei-lien (
"More than 800 million compact discs are sold annually on the domestic market. It's inappropriate to dispose of the discs only in landfills or incinerators," Cheng said.
If compact discs are dumped at landfills, he said, soil and groundwater would be polluted by heavy metals. In addition, burning compact discs containing plastic materials in incinerators might produce the dangerous chemical dioxin.
Chang said that the EPA had entrusted the Industrial Technology Research Institute with conducting a feasibility study on recycling compact discs. The final report will be completed by the end of this year.
"We estimate that the product will be efficiently recycled as early as July next year, if related regulations are established," Chang said.
Cheng's colleagues, including Kuo Jung-tsung (
According to Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文), director-general of the EPA's Bureau of Solid Waste Management, the administration so far had no clear picture of the amount of unwanted compact discs that had to be recycled annually.
But according to a preliminary study by the institute, which estimates that discs have a 4-year lifespan and a 2 percent damage rate during the recording process, about 60 million compact discs weighing 990 tonnes are discarded annually in Taiwan. This conservative estimation excludes discs with defects discarded by the manufacturing sector.
According to a Ministry of Economic Affairs publication in December last year, discs damaged during the manufacturing process accounts for about 10 percent of total production.
According to the EPA, there has been only one environmental service company so far that systematically recycles compact discs. The Kaohsiung-based company, which received its license in August, is expected to recycle as many as 300 million compact discs annually. The company now produces 400 tonnes of plastic materials a month from discarded and recycled compact discs. Meanwhile, two other companies are applying for similar licenses.
Administration officials said that it's worthwhile to recycle unwanted compact discs because the production volume is still increasing significantly.
In addition to production, officials said, other factors affecting the recycling of compact discs would be considered, including potential environmental pollution, consumer behavior, the market economy and executive strategies.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS