Taiwan’s 10 major beverage companies use more than 6,000 tonnes of disposable plastic and paper tableware per year, an Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) official said yesterday, citing a 2019 survey.
The 6,319 tonnes include cups, containers and cutlery made from polypropylene, solid polystyrene, polystyrene foam, polyethylene terephthalate, biomass plastic and paper, said the official, who asked not to be named.
The nation’s 10 major beverage brands, including coffee shop and bubble tea chains, are supplied with up to 540 million disposable cups and cutlery items annually by 32 companies, the official said.
The data were collected in 2019 by the Foundation of Taiwan Industry Service in a survey commissioned by the EPA to gauge the industry’s contribution to the nation’s use of disposable tableware, they said.
Over the past few years, the recycling rate of plastic products has risen to about 84 percent, the official said.
The EPA is aiming to achieve greater transparency in the supply chain for disposable tableware, to allow traceability from upstream to downstream, the official said, adding that it would soon propose legislation.
The EPA would improve the labeling of trash containers at bus stations, seaports, airports and other public areas to encourage better separation of trash, the official added.
In other developments, the EPA said in a news release yesterday that five coal-fired power plants have significantly reduced their output this weekend, due to unhealthy levels of air pollution over large parts of Taiwan.
Since midnight Saturday, the output had been lowered to 30 percent of combined output at the plants in Kaohsiung, Keelung, New Taipei City, Taichung and Yunlin County, the EPA said.
The EPA said it has also asked the local governments in Kaohsiung, Pingtung County and Tainan to closely monitor air pollution at industrial areas and major factory sites.
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