Taiwan's efforts to recycle old computers have been praised by representatives of several Asian countries, who attended a recent international workshop held by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).
EPA officials said yesterday that international cooperation in the field of recycling technologies would be carried out soon.
In addition to attending the workshop, environmental officials and waste management experts from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Palau also visited the Super Dragon Technology Co (佳龍科技股份有限公司) in Taoyuan County recently, where old computers are processed.
After observing the dismantling, crunching, classifying and recycling of useful metals -- such as gold, silver and copper -- the visitors were full of praise.
A high-ranking environmental official from Indonesia, Teguh Irawan, expressed to EPA officials his desire to import recycling-related technologies.
EPA officials said yesterday at a press conference that Taiwan has been playing a key role in recycling used electronics because existing recycling policies, first implemented in July 1998, had made Taiwan the first country to conduct compulsory recycling of used computer hardware, including central processing units, monitors and notebook computers.
By the end of October this year, EPA officials said, about 1,400,000 used computers had been recycled. EPA officials said they were satisfied with the recycling rate -- about 75 percent of all used computers.
EPA officials said yesterday that recycling old computer hardware was important in Taiwan, which is the world's third-largest producer of IT equipment. EPA officials said efforts made on IT-related environmental protection could improve the competitive ability of Taiwan's IT industry.
"Taiwan is approaching another stage of environmental protection in which recycling policy will have a high priority," Lin Jun-yi (林俊義), head of the EPA, said yesterday.
Environmentalists, however, said that difficulties encountered by the EPA included the fast growth of municipal waste, a shortage of landfills and loopholes in the recycling process. In addition, officials cited the inefficiencies and mismanagement of the organization responsible for recycling which preceded the EPA's Resource Recycling Fund Management Committee (資源回收基金管理委員會).
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
‘MISGUIDED EDICT’: Two US representatives warned that Somalia’s passport move could result in severe retaliatory consequences and urged it to reverse its decision Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has ordered that a special project be launched to counter China’s “legal warfare” distorting UN Resolution 2758, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday cited UN Resolution 2758 and Mogadishu’s compliance with the “one China” principle as it banned people from entering or transiting in the African nation using Taiwanese passports or other Taiwanese travel documents. The International Air Transport Association’s system shows that Taiwanese passport holders cannot enter Somalia or transit there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested the move and warned Taiwanese against traveling to Somalia or Somaliland
RSS