The Nantou County Government yesterday finished removing more than 1,000 tonnes of garbage that had been stored — amid public complaints — at the county-controlled Nantou City Office because of a lack of space at the nation’s incinerators.
Nantou Deputy Commissioner Chen Cheng-sheng (陳正昇) said that Nantou City was among the county sites worst-hit by the garbage problem.
“With the trash removed, public complaints can be appeased,” Chen said.
The county has wrestled with garbage heaps since October last year because of space constraints at the Taichung City Government’s three incinerators, which handle waste generated in Nantou, county Environmental Protection Bureau Director-General Huang Ching-ju (黃靜如) said.
While local media have linked the problem to annual maintenance at the Taichung facilities, a more direct cause is that incinerators in central Taiwan — formerly used to consume only household waste — now have to dispose of industrial and commercial waste, she said.
The change eats up the space needed for household waste, leaving garbage to pile up at township and city offices, Huang said.
The additional waste disposal is apparently meant to cut costs, as processing industrial and commercial waste in certified facilities in industrial zones is much more costly, she said.
Taichung’s incinerators have a processing capacity of about 2,700 tonnes, of which about 1,000 tonnes are reserved for household waste, she said.
Burning industrial and commercial waste at incinerators meant to treat household waste can damage the machines, as the first two types of waste generate much higher temperatures, causing the incinerators’ boiler tubes to melt, she said.
Chen agreed, saying that the practice goes against the incinerators’ stated use.
He urged the Environmental Protection Administration to introduce measures to better regulate industrial and commercial waste.
Waste removal work is still ongoing in five townships — Caotun (草屯), Jhushan (竹山), Jiji (集集), Jhongliao (中寮) and Yuchih (魚池) — where an estimated 6,000 tonnes of garbage remains, Chen said.
The county government expects to finish removing the remaining waste by the end of September, he said.
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