The nation’s six special municipalities must each install cigarette waste receptacles in 650 locations by the end of November as part of the government’s plan to eliminate cigarette litter, the Ministry of Environment said yesterday.
Other local governments must install receptacles in 400 locations, while officials in the outlying counties must add them at 300 spots, the ministry said.
Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭?明) launched a cigarette butt-free initiative soon after taking office on May 20. He also unveiled six strategies to reduce cigarette litter, including changing the culture around smoking, tackling cigarette littering at the source, cracking down on littering, intensifying collaboration between the public and private sectors, and increasing research on the issue.
Photo: Taipei Times file
In a letter to local governments last month, the ministry charged them with implementing action plans to meet the “No Stub on the Ground” campaign and follow guidelines to install cigarette butt collection receptacles.
The guidelines stipulate that the receptacles be placed in popular smoking areas, such as outside convenience stores, restaurants, beverage shops, Internet cafes, hospitals and clinics, housing agencies, public transportation stations, parking lots and fuel stations, as well as around sidewalks, alleys, roads and drainage ditches, Environmental Management Administration official Wei Wen-yi (魏文宜) said.
They must also be far away from residential areas, she added.
Smokers would be fined NT$1,200 to NT$6,000 (US$37.57 to US$187.86) for cigarette littering in accordance with the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法), she said.
The action plan stipulates that law enforcement officers can issue fines for cigarette litterers if they see them doing so in front of a convenience store or if they were observed littering on surveillance systems.
“We would also regularly review the effectiveness of the punishment to curb cigarette littering,” Wei said.
Businesses would be encouraged to clean cigarette butts left outside their storefronts in the initial phase and enhance environment inspection in the medium term, she said.
In the long run, the ministry would announce the area that store owners are responsible for cleaning, she said.
The government would allocate about NT$18 million every year to fund the cleaning of ditches, which are often used as ashtrays by smokers, she said.
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