The Ministry of Environment plans to propose stricter regulations on heavy metals and dioxins related to solid recovered fuel (SRF) by the end of the year, it said on Friday after releasing a report on the results of its nationwide inspection of 48 manufacturers and 18 users of SRFs.
SRFs are made from nonhazardous waste from businesses that can be burned as fuel, Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) said, adding that quality SRFs can only be produced through purification and homogenization.
The ministry would propose new SRF regulations by the end of the year to establish a third-party certification system, install closed-circuit television systems to monitor the areas where materials are collected and impose stricter standards on the emission of harmful substances such as dioxins, Resource Circulation Administration Director-General Lai Ying-ying (賴瑩瑩) said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
Under the stricter regulations, companies in the industry would have to make more effort and invest more to improve their products and processes, Peng said, adding that “this is not to increase the companies’ costs, but to increase Taiwan’s assets.”
SRF production volume has increased from 50,000 tonnes in 2019 to 290,000 tonnes last year, and most manufacturers were small and medium-sized businesses, Lai said, citing the report.
Although one manufacturer did not install an essential device for purification and homogenization of SRF, all manufacturers’ SRF products met quality standards, she said, adding that SRF combustion efficiency could be improved.
Eighteen manufacturers did not report where their products were sold, although it was required by law, and one manufacturer has never reported the destinations of its products, she said.
While 29 manufacturers sold SRF products directly to users in accordance with regulations, 11 did not and eight had yet to sell their products, she added.
Most SRF users were factories of large companies in the paper, cement and power supply industries, which mainly used coal, Lai said.
Although SRF-users’ sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxide emissions met regulations, 25 percent of the users fell short of the emission standards for dioxins, she said.
Overall, 52 to 70 percent of SRF manufacturers met standards and 30 to 48 percent needed improvements, while more than 90 percent of SRF users met standards and 6 percent should improve, she said.
Meanwhile, 14 SRF producers said they would leave the market after the inspection, while two manufacturers said they would stop production as SRF was not their main product, Lai said.
Two users said they would use other fuels instead of SRFs, she said.
Ten manufacturers said they would transition from the market as their waste had simple properties and as they had matured their waste reuse technology, she said.
About 6.5 million tonnes of waste is sent to incinerators every year, 1.8 million tonnes of which is business waste, Deputy Minister of Environment Shen Chih-hsiu (沈志修) said.
If business waste could be recycled using SRF production technology, incinerator capacity could be freed for burning noncommercial waste, which would reduce “waste mountains” in Taiwan, he said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS