Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, urged the public yesterday to collect household food waste in a bid to ease the pressure of waste management in Taiwan.
In the wake of being censured two weeks ago by the Control Yuan for the EPA's failure to promote policies to reduce, collect and reuse food waste over the past decade, Hau inspected household waste treatment facilities in Shihkang Township (
PHOTO: HUNG SHAO-CHIN, TAIPEI TIMES
Hau said that the EPA has made efforts to increase residents' awareness that food waste is an important resource. According to EPA statistics, there are 4,500 communities, schools, and organizations in Taiwan that recycle food waste.
In Shihkang, the township office has spent about NT$1 million on promoting the recycling of food waste since July this year.
Environmental officials said that 2 tonnes of food waste is collected everyday beside the Tachia Creek (大甲溪) in Shihkang, a small rural township with 16,000 residents.
Leftovers collected in Shihkang are treated at a local factory by adding sawdust in order to convert it into organic compost (
Since Nov. 14, environmental officials in Shihkang have used newly made organic compost to nourish vegetable gardens inside the facility. Officials said that the compost would later be used to nourish soil in public parks.
EPA officials said that more money would be available for the compost facility in Shihkang in order to make it a model treatment site.
"The EPA will make efforts to promote food waste recycling based on lifestyles, education levels, economic situations and waste management pressures," Hau said.
Two weeks ago, the Control Yuan also censured the environmental protection departments of several local governments, notably Hsinchu County, Yunlin County, Chiayi City and Chiayi County, for officials' passive attitude toward the recycling food waste.
EPA officials said, however, they have worked hard to promote recycling of food waste not only in rural sites but also in urban areas. In Taichung City, 40 to 50 tonnes of food waste can be recycled each day. In addition, the EPA is promoting new strategies in Changhua and Yunlin counties to recycle 60 to 100 tonnes of leftovers in each county per day by the end of the month.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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