The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is considering giving hoteliers and bed-and-breakfast operators at least a one-year grace period to comply with the government’s new policy of limiting the use of single-use amenities, after many of them reported that they are unfamiliar with the details of the policy.
The agency made the announcement yesterday after discussing the new policy with tourism industry representatives.
Single-use amenities, as defined by the EPA, include shampoo, conditioner, shower gel or lotion contained in a package smaller than 180ml, as well as hairbrushes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, shower caps and single-use slippers.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The first phase of the policy, which was originally scheduled to begin on July 1, would require hoteliers to offer single-use amenities only when requested by guests.
In the second phase, hoteliers would be asked to give at least a 5 percent price difference between rooms offering amenities and those that do not. Local environmental protection officials would decide when the second phase is to be implemented.
Some hoteliers said in the meeting that many hotels have only one person at the service counter due to a severe labor shortage in the industry.
Hotel managers themselves would sometimes need to deliver amenities to customers, if many consumers are not clear about the new policy, they said.
Others said that the agency need not implement the policy in two phases, but that the government would need to spend a longer time raising awareness of the issue.
Consumers should be informed about the 5 percent room price difference when making hotel reservations, they said.
Businesses printing logos on hotel amenities said that they are hoping for a transitional period of at least one year, as they need time to consider closing their business, liquidating inventories and putting together severance packages.
Others raised hygiene issues if hotels offer reusable slippers.
The Society of Wilderness said that some people do not want to stay in hotels that offer amenities, but such a choice is not available to them.
“Others told us that they do not like to use amenities in hotels, but such items are included in the room price,” the society said. “Housekeeping staff still throw away some of the unused amenities.”
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS