A policy that limits the use of plastic bags and utensils will be implemented on Wednesday regardless of strong opposition from the plastics industry, Environmental Protection Administrator Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday.
"We can make a great contribution to environmental protection as long as we get used to the small inconvenience of carrying reusable bags when shopping," Hau told a crowd in downtown Taipei, where environmental protection campaign activities were being held.
Hau said that the public's attitude toward using plastic needed to change.
Together with Pai Ping-ping (白冰冰), a TV entertainer who volunteered to promote the policy, Hau tore down several plastic bags and utensils attached to a huge model of the Earth to demonstrate his resolution in carrying out the policy.
In Taipei yesterday, several artists displayed their works made from recyclable materials or hand-made reusable shopping bags produced by local Taiwan-ese housewives.
The first stage of the controversial policy was launched on July 1, when all government-run stores were banned from providing free plastic shopping bags to customers.
Three months later, a ban on disposable utensils and food containers was imposed at government-operated grocery stores and restaurants.
The second stage of the policy will start on Wednesday, with the ban on free bags and utensils extending to department stores, supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and almost every type of retailer, except street vendors.
To promote the policy, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) distributed 1,000 reusable shopping bags to those participating in yesterday's campaign activities.
Representatives from convenience store chains and department stores joined the activities to show their support.
Giuseppina Toto, an Italian semiconductor engineer who is in Taiwan on business, said yesterday that the policy was reasonable given that in Europe most residents already use reusable bags for shopping.
"In the Netherlands, you have to pay about NT$3.5 to buy a plastic bag," said Toto, who now lives in the Netherlands.
Notices informing customers of the policy have been put up at most stores it affects.
A clerk at a branch of the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co in Sungshan District said that customers will be charged NT$1 for a single biodegradable plastic shopping bag from the start of next year.
The EPA has spent NT$30 million on publicizing the policy so far.
According to the EPA, 20 percent of household waste in Taiwan is plastic, almost double the percentage in developed countries.
Hau told the Taipei Times yesterday that the policy aims to reduce the amount of plastic waste by 30 percent within six months.
"The policy will be carefully reviewed in six months to see if the EPA needs to limit the use of other disposable materials," Hau said.
As for opposition from the plastics industry, Hau said that the EPA would do its best to solve unemployment caused by the policy.
According to Hau, the Cabinet will spend about NT$1.58 billion on creating 8,400 jobs for laid-off plastics industry workers next year.
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