From 2025, hotels in Taiwan would be restricted from supplying single-use toiletries unless they are specifically requested, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said on Monday.
Under the new guidelines, which the EPA announced on its Web site, liquid toiletries such as shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and lotion would have to be provided in bottles with a volume of at least 180ml.
Meanwhile, disposable items such as combs, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste and shower caps would no longer be offered in guests’ rooms, although hotels would be allowed to provide them on request, the EPA said.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau via CNA
The regulations would not apply to hotel facilities outside of guest rooms, such as spas or swimming pools, the agency said.
The EPA reviewed the new regulations in January and initially said that stage one of the plan would be implemented on July 1, which did not happen.
The implementation date was changed to Jan. 1, 2025, to give the estimated 14,500 affected hotels, bed and breakfast facilities and catered campsites enough time to adapt, Wang Yueh-pin (王嶽斌), executive secretary of the EPA’s Recycling Fund Management Board, said in an interview on Monday.
By mandating the use of larger, reusable bottles for toiletries in hotels, the EPA estimated that plastic waste from smaller, disposable bottles could be cut by about 2,100 tonnes per year.
Hotels found contravening the rules would face a fine of NT$1,200 to NT$6,000, with the possibility of further penalties if no improvements are made, the EPA said.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
RSS