Environmentalist groups yesterday slammed the Ministry of Environment’s policy to build more incinerators, which they said were additional pollutant sources, adding the ministry’s focus should instead be on recycling and waste reduction.
At a news conference in Taipei, the groups, alongside Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬), lambasted Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) for reviving unpopular policies previously shut down by popular opinion in the 1990s in an attempt to meet target goals.
In late October, the ministry announced a three-year plan worth NT$1.2 billion (US$37 million) to remove all garbage pileups by the end of 2026.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Watch Institute
The ministry’s predecessor, the Environmental Protection Administration, had pushed to build one incinerator per county or city in the 1990s, but the policy was eventually abandoned due to public discontent and because some counties did not produce trash in volumes requiring a dedicated incinerator.
Taiwan’s trash pileups have grown over the past decade, but trash handling capacity — including incinerators and facilities turning waste into solid recovered fuels (SRFs) — has grown to 1.5 million tonnes annually, said Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖).
There is no urgent need, or necessity, to build more incinerators, he said.
Nantou County’s Mingjian Township (名間) Anti-Incineratory Self-Help Group spokesman Chuang Li-te (莊理德) said the county’s daily trash output stood at 250 tonnes and does not require the building of an incinerator, which would only benefit the facility’s employees and be harmful to the township residents’ health.
National Penghu University of Science and Technology professor emeritus Kuo Chin-chuan (郭金泉) said the Penghu County Government should try to step up recycling and waste reduction, especially for compost, which he said was the main reason the Penghu trash pileup was long criticized for its foul smell.
Environmental groups concluded that instead of incinerators, the government should reinforce its recycling and waste reduction policies, which have been neglected and not enforced over the last decade.
The groups said proper composting, reducing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) waste and encouraging the public’s efforts to recycle by waste category can sufficiently reduce waste and prevent the building of more incinerators.
The groups also urged Peng to clarify his statements about the government’s support for building environment-friendly facilities — including mechanical biological treatment plants, high-efficiency compost fermentation facilities, PVC recycling machines and others, including incinerators — so that local governments cannot claim later that their decision was supported by the central government.
In response, the ministry yesterday said trash management is the responsibility of local governments and reducing waste from the source should be prioritized.
However, the ministry added that counties and cities without a local government-operated incinerator should consider building one, although local governments should choose the sites with care and be transparent about the issue.
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