The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) was yesterday accused of poor industrial waste management, which legislators said has led to the illegal use of slag and toxic waste as building materials.
A draft waste reduction and recycling act (廢棄物減量及循環利用法 ) and draft amendments to the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) were the topics of a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.
The draft bill is set to combine the Waste Disposal Act with the Resource Reuse and Recycling Act (資源回收再利用法) to define different types of industrial waste and make the EPA the sole authority responsible for industrial waste management, as industrial waste is currently managed by a total of 10 different government agencies, and each has its own rules and regulations.
However, an EPA report that had only an eight-line paragraph in response to the draft bill, which said the bill is complicated and requires more communication with the public and between government units, sparked criticism from lawmakers.
“The mismanagement of industrial waste results from waste being falsely classified as products, overlapping responsibilities and an inability to track the flow of waste materials. The most pressing issue is to come up with a set of unambiguous definitions of different types of industrial waste and their treatment methods,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) said.
Industrial Development Bureau Director Wu Ming-ji (吳明機) said that only three of the nation’s 62 industrial parks and one out of 13 science parks have toxic waste management centers.
“According to the Waste Disposal Act, industrial parks and science parks cannot begin operations unless waste management facilities are in place, but authorities of the parks do not care about the act,” New Power Party Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
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