The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is to convene a roundtable discussion today with biodegradable plastic product manufacturers, consumer representatives, recycling business owners and experts to discuss how to better dispose of such products.
The latest statistics from the EPA showed that the most common type of biodegradable plastic products in Taiwan, made from polylactic acid (PLA), amounted to 6,964 tonnes last year, with a recycling rate of only 5.2 percent, or 363 tonnes.
However, while biodegradable plastic products are widely used in the nation, only two local companies are capable of fully processing such products, said Wei Wen-yi (魏聞宜), deputy secretary-general of the EPA’s Recycling Management Fund.
As the two companies are capable of handling up to 4,200 tonnes per year of recycled biodegradable plastic products, they can easily deal with the aforementioned 363 tonnes of recycled plastic, she said.
However, the reality is more complicated as biodegradable plastic products outwardly resemble most other plastic products and, as such, many are not correctly recycled, she said.
The difficulty in spotting PLA products, and their comparative rarity, has led to a lack of interest among many recycling business owners, she added.
The EPA has said that biodegradable plastic products must be recycled and offers a NT$15.17 subsidy per kilogram of recyled biodegradable plastic products, the EPA said.
The current method of disposing of biodegradable plastic products is to make them into solid recovered fuel, it said.
The common practice abroad is to burn biodegradable plastics or to turn them into compost, the EPA said, but added that not all composting plants can process biodegradable plastics.
The EPA is reviewing how to better deploy technology in recycling, and is holding a discussion today on how to categorize, treat and reuse biodegradable plastics.
The agency is considering issuing regulations to limit biodegradable plastics for use in certain products and reviewing subsidy rates for recycling efforts.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS