The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled two amendments to laws governing recycling to accomplish circular economy benchmarks as part of Taiwan’s policy to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The government has prepared amendments to the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) and the Resource Recycling Act (資源循環推動法), including renaming the latter as the resource circulation act, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference. The bills are to be sent to the Legislative Yuan.
The Waste Disposal Act amendments would broaden the law’s mandate to govern the recycling of agricultural and industrial waste, including the handling of inoperative solar panels and wind turbines, officials said. The issue had sparked public discontent in the aftermath of Typhoon Danas last year, which led to the haphazard disposal of many storm-damaged panels and turbine parts.
Photo: CNA
Under the bill, the responsibility for disposing of solar panels, turbine blades and other new forms of industrial waste would fall on the manufacturers, importers and operators of the devices.
Failure to properly dispose of such waste would be a criminal offense punishable by up to seven years in prison, compared with the current five years, and a fine of up to NT$15 million (US$472,471).
Contravening the regulations in zones that have been designated as environmentally or ecologically sensitive would result in a 50 percent increase in the penalties, the bill says.
Changes to the law would streamline the regulatory authority in charge of supervising waste management by establishing a chain of custody and simplified certification mechanisms, the Cabinet said.
The government would install monitoring technology dubbed “digital fences” in areas at risk of being used as illegal dumping grounds, it said.
The proposed resource circulation act would expand government oversight to encompass the full life cycle of industrial products — from their design, manufacture, and operation to disposal and recycling, officials said.
SET News cited officials as saying that the draft would authorize the government to establish a national resource circulation plan to be revised every five years and a dedicated multi-agency committee to set relevant policies.
The government would mandate standards for degradable, recyclable or environmentally friendly raw materials for use in manufacturing and construction, and require industries to increase the use of recycled materials, the officials said.
Lee cited Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) as telling officials that the amendments are meant to bring Taiwan’s regulations to international standards and facilitate the growth of the recycling sector, which annually generates NT$168.8 billion in value.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
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