Although the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has been telling people to flush toilet paper in toilets since 2017, roughly 55 percent of respondents to a survey still dispose of it in trash bins, the EPA said Thursday.
Asked why they continue to dispose of toilet paper in bins instead of flushing it, 44 percent of those responding in that way said they did so due to signage in place in public washrooms telling them not to flush anything in the toilet. Roughly 37 percent said they did so out of concern they would clog the toilet.
Photo: Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
EPA official Shih Sheng-chun (施勝鈞) said that such concerns are unnecessary, as all toilet paper commercially sold in Taiwan is safe to flush, as is indicated on its packaging.
Flushing toilet paper can reduce odor, prevent the growth of bacteria or the spread of infectious diseases, and increase the safety of cleaning staff and other users of public toilets, he said.
However, facial tissue, wet wipes, feminine hygiene products and other items not designed to be flushed should continue to be thrown into trash bins, he said, adding that if an excessive amount of toilet paper is used at once, that should still be thrown into a bin to prevent blockage.
Shih said the EPA would work with businesses operating public washrooms to address their concerns behind leaving signage in place advising against flushing toilet paper.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS