Consumers would not be given a NT$5 rebate for bringing plastic, cardboard or polystyrene foam cups to use for takeaway beverages, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
The agency earlier this month began implementing a policy that is aimed at reducing the use of disposable cups by making a price difference of at least NT$5 mandatory for drinks served in cups provided by consumers and those served in cups offered by the place of purchase.
The policy applies to takeaway beverage purchases at convenience stores, fast-food restaurants, supermarkets and tea shops.
Photo: Chen Hsien-yi, Taipei Times
The rules governing the use of single-use takeaway beverage cups stipulate that disposable cups are those made of petrochemical-based plastics, bio-based plastics and biodegradable plastics, the agency said.
Cups provided by consumers should be reusable and conform to the Sanitation Standards for Food Utensils, Containers and Packages (食品器具容器包裝衛生標準), which state that plastic food containers and packages should not be recycled for reuse, it said.
Businesses should not give consumers a NT$5 rebate if the cups they bring are made of plastic, polystyrene foam or cardboard, the agency said.
Approximately 4 billion disposable cups were used in 2020, statistics from EPA Recycling Fund Management Board showed.
Although the EPA in 2011 required businesses to give consumers a NT$1 to NT$3 rebate for bringing their own cups, only 6 percent of consumers actually did it, the agency said.
The percentage of consumers bringing their own cups rose to 30 percent after a NT$5 rebate was offered, which helped reduce the use of disposable cups by 5.8 billion units and decrease trash by 7,000 tonnes, the agency said.
Reducing the use of plastic has become urgent as the UN is to enforce a global plastic pollution treaty in 2024, the agency said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS