The Flomo Education Foundation has recently pledged to give out 10 million erasers with no polyvinyl chloride (PVC) content per year in an attempt to eradicate erasers with PVC from the nation.
The foundation donates an estimated NT$120 million (US$3.9 million) worth of erasers per year.
PVC is the third-most produced polymer in the world, behind polyethylene and polypropylene, and is often used to produce imitation leather, cable coatings or, when mixed with plasticizers, to substitute for rubber.
The foundation, an affiliate of Flomo Plastics Industrial Co, has made trial runs of the giveaway beginning in 2009 by presenting 1 million PVC-free erasers to elementary-school students between first and third grade, nationwide.
The foundation’s actions followed calls made four years ago by environmental groups urging the Ministry of Economic Affairs to limit PVC content in erasers, as they are among the most commonly used items in schools.
Foundation president Shen Kun-chao (沈坤照) said that an eraser may be a small thing, but it is used by a large number of people, including students and office workers.
Despite environmental activists having pushed the government to place tighter limits on erasers’ PVC content — limits that surpass those of Japan or other countries — it was impossible to ban erasers from being used and causing some harm to the environment, Shen said.
“We hope that through our actions we can cut down PVC’s effects on people and the environment,” Shen said. “We have the technology to do it, so why don’t we?”
Shen said the foundation hoped to establish an environment in which no eraser in the nation would hold any trace of PVC.
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