New Taipei City residents often dump garbage in Taoyuan to avoid paying for trash bags, Taoyuan City councilors said yesterday, urging the two cities’ environmental protection bureaus to tackle the problem.
The Taipei City Government in 2000 started to levy a trash tax from the sale of the bags, rather than including it into utility bills, requiring city residents to dispose of their trash in the specialized bags.
In 2010, New Taipei City also adopted the policy, leading to some residents dumping trash in Taoyuan, where the bags are not taxed, said Taoyuan City Councilor Lin Cheng-fong (林正峰), who represents the city’s Gueishan District (龜山).
Gueishan’s garbage trucks are often overburdened with trash coming from New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang (新莊), Shulin (樹林) and Linkou (林口) districts, he said, asking: “Is Taoyuan rich enough to deal with another city’s trash?”
Taoyuan City Councilor Liu Mao-chun (劉茂群), representing the city’s Bade District (八德), said his constituency has found a large amount of trash from the neighboring Yingge District (鶯歌) in New Taipei City.
People in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District (蘆竹) also complained about trash from Linkou, Taoyuan City Councilor Hsu Ching-shun (許清順) said.
“People are shifting their troubles to their neighbors,” Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection Director-General Shen Chih-hsiu (沈志修) said.
Shen promised to work the problem out with New Taipei City’s corresponding bureau.
Meanwhile, he said that it would be difficult for the Taoyuan City Government to impose a trash bag fee in the near future.
To tax trash bags, the city would have to make a budget for them and arrange for more inspectors to patrol the streets, he said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.
RSS