Taiwan will make up for its absence from the field of play at the FIFA World Cup 2010 with a presence in the form of the shirts to be worn by nine competing teams at the tournament that begins tomorrow.
The Government Information Office (GIO) said Taiwan was commissioned to produce shirts for the national teams of Brazil, the Netherlands, Portugal, the US, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Serbia and Slovenia.
Together with the retail demand for the shirts, about 13 million recycled plastic bottles were used to meet the orders, the GIO said in a statement released yesterday.
It quoted the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial Development Bureau as saying that each shirt was made using eight plastic bottles on average.
The statement said the manufacturer attested to the high-tech methods utilized in Taiwan’s production of fiber products.
“The whole manufacturing process was completed in Taiwan, from reeling silk from plastic bottles to dyeing and final production. It not only shows the efforts Taiwan has made in environmental protection but also that Taiwan’s fiber technology is endorsed by the world,” Sean Chen (陳冲), head of the Executive Yuan’s commission for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, said in the statement.
The Environmental Protection Administration said approximately 90,000 tonnes of plastic was recycled in Taiwan every year, equal to 4.5 billion 600cc plastic bottles.
It estimated that on average each person uses 200 plastic bottles every year.
In related news, the Ministry of Education yesterday announced a program that will begin this summer with the aim of cultivating the nation’s future soccer stars.
Wang Chun-chuan (王俊權), director of the ministry’s Department of Physical Education, said the NT$2 million (US$61,000) program is part of the ministry’s plan to help junior high and high schools establish at least 400 soccer teams in a bid to boost the nation’s soccer strength.
Foreign professional soccer coaches will be hired to train 100 Taiwanese players and coaches in high school or vocational high school, Wang said.
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