To promote the flushing of toilet paper, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday demonstrated how to do so in the public toilets of Taipei’s Ximen MRT Station.
Flushing paper could improve the world’s perception of the nation, Lee said.
The EPA in March announced that used toilet paper should be flushed instead of being disposed of in waste bins.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
However, after several months of spreading the message, some still doubt the policy’s feasibility.
There are 902 public toilets in Taipei, but only 375 of them are in compliance with the policy, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) said earlier this month.
As many agencies could not comply with the directive owing to old pipes, authorities should reconsider its practicality, she added.
Lee yesterday said that most public toilets can flush away toilet paper, and those that cannot would be improved soon.
“Thousands of foreign visitors will come to Taiwan [in August] for the Universiade in Taipei. If they find people in Taipei still discarding toilet paper in waste bins, they would think the nation is not civilized,” he said.
People should change their ideas and keep up with international trends, he said, adding that “toilet paper has no problems. It is users who have problems.”
Public facilities are required to post signs promoting the policy by the end of this month, EPA Department of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Substance Management Director Yuan Shao-ying (袁紹英) said, adding that the EPA will begin inspecting the facilities from next month.
Those still unable to comply with the policy should put up signs explicitly telling users not to flush away tissue paper, Yuan added.
Public facilities without proper signs would not be fined, but those with dirty surroundings would be subject to a fine of between NT$1,200 and NT$6,000 in accordance with the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法), he said.
Toilet paper that is not disposable, like facial tissue paper, may not be sold within a 10m-radius of public lavatories, he added.
The EPA said it would spend NT$10 million (US$328,947) in the second half of this year to inspect public toilets nationwide, starting with facilities at transportation hubs.
The EPA is also budgeting about NT$4 billion for a seven-year plan to improve the nation’s 40,000 public toilets, he said, adding that school toilets are not to be included.
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Academics have expressed mixed views on President William Lai’s (賴清德) nomination of High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明) as a Constitutional Court justice and the head of the nation’s top judicial body. While prosecutors have served as justices at the Constitutional Court over the years, including Judy Ju (朱富美), an incumbent, the appointment of a prosecutor as president of the Judicial Yuan, which presides over the Constitutional Court, would be unprecedented. Retired law professor Lin Teng-yao (林騰鷂) said that Tsai’s nomination was an “abuse” of power by Lai, and called on the legislature, in which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)