One week after the Taipei City Government implemented its new garbage collection initiative on July 1, a coalition of scholars and environmentalists yesterday voiced their support for the scheme but highlighted the need to review existing problems such as handling perishables.
"We've come a long way in terms of refuse handling, namely from burying waste in landfills to burning it in incinerators to recycling. This is the first step we need to take to reach our ultimate goal of ending the use of landfills by 2020," said Stephen Shen (沈世宏), director of the city's Bureau of Environmental Protection (環保局).
Shen briefed reporters, scholars, officials, and environmentalists yesterday at a seminar chaired by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
PHOTO: FILE, TAIPEI TIMES
Over the past week from July 1 to July 7, the city's daily trash volume collected has decreased by about 40 percent, while resource recycling has increased from 2.5 percent to 10.2 percent, Shen said, adding the rate of illegal dumping was less than 1 percent.
A total of 12,587 tonnes of garbage have been collected, or an average of 1,798 tonnes a day, while a total of 1,431 tonnes of recyclables had been collected, or an average of 204.5 tonnes a day, he said.
The city is also considering adding three-liter, 10-liter, 20-liter and 120-liter bag sizes to the range currently in use, Shen said, and in addition, reducing the number of days on which trash is collected to six or maybe even five per week.
In addition, the city will draw up a preliminary plan for promoting its perishables and compost processing project within a month. The compost processing facility in Shanchuku, Neihu is scheduled to be completed this September and operational by January. It is expected to handle five tonnes of perishables daily.
The city government is also planning to impose fines on those who fail to separate recyclables from regular trash starting Oct. 1.
Shen also encouraged the public to put out different recyclable items on different days of the week -- for example, Styrofoam products, plastic bags, cans and jars on Mondays and Tuesdays; clothes, tires, batteries and electric devices on Wednesdays and Thursdays; and paper on Fridays and Saturdays.
Chang Tzu-chao (張子超), a professor of environmental studies at National Taiwan Normal University, said that the dramatic reduction in the daily trash volume could justify the decommissioning of at least one of the city's three incinerators.
"Since the daily volume has dropped to about 1,800 tonnes, some of the incinerators -- which combined, are capable of handling a daily total of 4,800 tonnes -- should cease operation to cut costs," he said.
Chien Yu-lan (錢玉蘭), energy and environmental studies research fellow at the Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research (中華經濟研究所), however, disagreed.
"It would not be cost effective since the construction of the plants costs a fortune and each is designed to last for 20 to 25 years," she said, explaining that the city could charge other counties and cities for incinerating their trash.
She also suggested that the city publish its formula for calculating garbage fees both on the net and in the media.
According to the study, conducted by Chien about four years ago, about 50 percent of Taiwan's six counties and cities surveyed spent less than NT$5 a month in garbage fees, while about 30 percent spent more than NT$5.
Hanson Chiang (姜志俊), chairman of the Consumers' Foundation (消費者文教基金會), agreed.
"Once the public knows from the media exactly how the city handles the recyclables and where they eventually go, it will help them develop more confidence and trust in the government and make it easier for it to promote the garbage initiative," he said.
Homemakers' Union and Foundation (主婦聯盟) Chairman Lin Hui-chen (林慧貞) called for the city to tackle the perishables generated by commercial entities such as restaurants and markets before it extends the perishables processing scheme to urban households.
Since the foundation began the trial scheme at Neihu's Hsian and Hsihu boroughs on June 5 this year, Lin said, it has been a headache for it just to take care of the perishables generated by restaurants and roadside food stands alone.
The other similar scheme, which began three years ago and was applied to 600 of the city's households spread across 12 districts, has seen a 150 percent growth in the weekly collected volume after July 1, because some households who are not covered by the scheme began to dump their perishables in the foundation's collecting barrels, she said.
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