The manufacturing, importation and sale of food packaged with polyvinylchloride (PVC) is to be banned in Taiwan starting in July next year, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) announced on Friday.
Although the use of PVC has been declining, some dairy products are still sold in PVC containers, EPA Recycling Fund Management Board executive director Wang Yueh-bin (王嶽斌) said.
PVC packaging can release plasticizers when used to store liquids, and the substance can lead to cancer when consumed over time, Wang said.
The material sometimes contains stabilizers that can also harm people’s health, he added.
When burned, PVC containers can release dioxins and heavy metals. Incinerators use filters to catch these materials, although contaminated ashes can leach into the ground and pollute the environment, Wang said.
Bans on PVC packaging have been implemented in many countries, he said, citing South Korea and New Zealand as examples. Canada, Spain and some US cities have also introduced PVC packaging bans.
With this measure, Taiwan can expect to eliminate about 79 tonnes of PVC food packaging every year, Wang said.
The ban is to be enforced under Article 21 of the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物處理法), which says that the government can prohibit or restrict the manufacturing, import or sale of items that are found to harm the environment, the EPA said.
When the ban takes effect, people who sell foods with PVC packaging could face fines ranging from NT$1,200 to NT $6,000, while those manufacturing or importing such items could be subject to a fine ranging from NT$60,000 to NT$300,000.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man