The Ministry of Environment yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Miaoli County Government to promote resource circulation developments via collaborations between the local and central governments.
The MOU was signed by Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) and Miaoli County Commissioner Chung Tung-chin (鍾東錦), with the goal of building a climate technology circulation park in the county’s Jhunan Township (竹南).
Peng said resource circulation is the key to the development of the circular economy, which has an annual output value of about NT$168.8 billion (US$5.35 billion) at a growth rate of 10 percent.
Photo: CNA
The county is the first entity to sign an MOU with the ministry to promote resource circulation, he said, adding that the ministry would plan the construction of the park jointly with the county government to establish a resilient resource processing mechanism.
The county government would utilize 25 hectares of land at the Jhunan landfill to set up the park, Chung said.
Advanced technology would be introduced to repurpose waste into energy, thereby helping to reduce local waste processing loads, he said.
In other news, the ministry entered another local cooperation with the Hsinchu County Government by jointly initiating an environmental improvement project for the Douzihpu River (豆子埔溪) and its surrounding areas in the county’s Jhubei City (竹北).
The county government is to invest nearly NT$190 million — of which about NT$120 million is from the ministry — in the project, with the goal of building an urban waterfront green corridor for local residents by the end of next year.
Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke (楊文科) said the project area is a 1.6km section of the river between Jhihshan Bridge (至善橋) and Boai Bridge (博愛橋), adding that he expects the river to be improved at least to the standard of the Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul.
The ministry said the project would focus on water quality improvements and pollution reduction, with interception facilities and a cobble contact bed system to purify an estimated 5,000 tonnes of river water per day.
The ammonia nitrogen removal rate is expected to reach 70 percent, while the removal efficiencies of biochemical oxygen and suspended solids could reach 80 percent, it said.
That would not only enhance the use of various waterfront spaces, but would also create diverse habitats for wildlife, it added.
Additional reporting by Chang Hsun-teng and Liao Hsueh-ju
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