The amount of common disposable plastic products used in Taiwan has increased 22.8 percent in a decade, even though the government has been pushing policies to reduce plastic pollution, Greenpeace Taiwan said yesterday.
Since the Environmental Protection Administration in 2002 started introducing policies to limit the use of single-use plastics, many reusable products have appeared on the market, and some consumption behaviors have changed, but the amount of single-use plastics used has continued to grow, the environmental group said.
The estimated use of plastic bags, disposable tableware and disposable paper containers have grown 11.4 percent, 36 percent and 36.9 percent respectively, with an average growth of 22.8 percent from 2009 to last year, Greenpeace Taiwan said, citing production and sales data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Greenpeace project director Tang An (唐安) said the data show that the policies had a limited effect on reducing single-use plastics, especially disposable tableware and containers.
The group conducted a telephone survey of adults aged 18 or older to understand people’s perception of single-use plastics and related policies.
The survey found that 69.5 percent of respondents often get single-use cups and straws from hand-shaken tea shops, 63.2 percent often get plastic bags from traditional markets, and 48.8 percent often use disposable tableware at food stalls and eateries, Tang said.
“The government seems to only pick the easy places to limit plastic use and neglect the places where large amounts of single-use plastics are being used,” she said.
While the government’s plastic waste reduction policies have been enforced for nearly two decades, there are only 14 types of stores and facilities that require customers to pay for plastic bags, even fewer places are banned from using single-use tableware and straws, and the limitations are only for eat-in customers, not take-out orders, Tang said.
The 14 types of stores and facilities are government facilities, public and private schools, department stores and malls, hypermarkets, supermarkets, chain convenience stores, chain fast-food stores, cosmetics and drug stores, medical device shops, consumer electronics retailers, books and stationary shops, laundry services, coffee and tea shops, and bakeries.
The survey also found that 82.3 percent of respondents support the policy of banning single-use plastics and 92.2 percent support the idea of using reusable products to replace disposable products, but only 19.3 percent know that the government plans to ban the use of all plastic shopping bags, tableware, beverage cups and straws by 2030.
As the survey shows that most people are supportive of the plastic reduction policies, the group urges the government to expand the limitations to include more locations, especially traditional markets, food stalls and eateries, as well as hand-shaken tea shops, Tang said.
It also urges the government to increase the cost of single-use plastics or the rewards for using reusable items; cooperate with the private sector to encourage the use of sustainable items; and accelerate the time frame for banning single-use plastics, she said.
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