Improper disposal of cigarette butts is harmful to the environment and will incur fines, the Ministry of Environment said on Wednesday, as it announced a planned educational initiative against cigarette littering.
Many people treat sewers and gutters as ashtrays, but it has significant ecological impacts, Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) told a question-and-answer session at the legislature.
The ministry is therefore in discussions with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and other agencies to organize a public service initiative urging people to properly dispose of cigarette butts, he said, adding that the timing is still uncertain.
Photo: Chen Feng-li, Taipei Times
The initiative would include working with convenience stores on educational efforts about environmental impacts, as well as local governments and the media to inform about the accumulation of cigarette butts in gutters, Peng said.
Authorities would also make increased use of video surveillance to report and fine those caught littering, he added.
From 2018 to last year, 250,628 fines had been issued for littering cigarette butts under the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法), comprising 77.6 percent of all such penalties, ministry data show.
Fines can range from NT$1,200 to NT$6,000, the act says.
The National Environmental Research Academy is also conducting research on the ecological impacts of microplastics from cigarette filters, to be presented internationally, Peng said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS