Establishments offering on-site dining starting this month must recycle used paper tableware and promote the measure to customers, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said.
The new regulation, which was announced in June and went into effect on Friday, requires vendors to provide diners with paper tableware and set aside an area with clear signage using Taiwan’s logo for recycling for customers to leave their used trays, plates, bowels and other items, the agency said in a statement.
Vendors should also use audio or visual tools to remind patrons to remove food waste from tableware before placing them in the recycling area, it said.
Single-use tableware is widely used in Taiwan, especially in self-service establishments, where these products are often thrown away instead of being recycled. The EPA did not give an estimate on how much waste is generated from the practice.
It said that more than 7,600 food vendors would be affected by the new guidelines, but street vendors who use paper tableware for takeout or deliveries would be exempt.
Contraveners could be fined NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 under the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物處理法), the agency said.
In a separate statement, it said it plans to ban single-use tableware and cutlery, as well as bottled water, at central and local government meetings and related events, as well as in government facilities and on school campuses, by the end of next year.
The ban is the next part of an EPA initiative to reduce single-use items.
Some shops and cafeterias in government buildings and schools have already stopped offering single-use tableware and plastic bags, it said.
The project was started to set an example of environmentally friendly practices in the public sector, to encourage private-sector businesses to adopt similar measures, it said.
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