Environmental Analysis and Solid Waste Management in Taiwan-ROC

pp. 139-144 in Traditional Technology for Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Asian-Pacific Region

Proceedings of the UNESCO - University of Tsukuba International Seminar on Traditional Technology for Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Asian-Pacific Region, held in Tsukuba Science City, Japan, 11-14 December, 1995.

Editors: Kozo Ishizuka, D. Sc. , Shigeru Hisajima, D. Sc. , Darryl R.J. Macer, Ph.D.

Copyright 1996 Masters Program in Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba. Commercial rights are reserved, but this book may be reproduced for limited educational purposes. Published by the Master's Program in Environmental Science and Master's Program in Biosystem Studies, University of Tsukuba, 1996.

Environmental Analysis Management in Taiwan-ROC is conducted by NIEA EPA-ROC since 1990, the missions are to improve and standardize the quality of environmental analysis, to provide technical support and guidance to environmental laboratories from all sectors, and to perform environmental analysis at the national level. In 1995, NIEA became a registered laboratory through Australia's NATA accreditation system. NIEA pursues high quality of life in the society with the principles of efficiency, quality data, and credibility.

Solid waste management in Taiwan Area is the top concern of public and the major work of EPA-ROC. For the sustainable development of the society, new concepts including life cycle cost of product, the four R's, HSI-FU, and Pollutor-Pay Principles were put into practice. Several projects combining elements of education, enforcement and incentive to the public including "Sea Gull", "Seal", "ET", "HSI-FU" and "Green Label" were carried out; combining with the construction of more and better landfill sites and incinerators, we hope for a better and healthier environment for generations to come.

Key Words: Life Cycle Cost, The four R's, Polluter-Pay Principle, HSI-FU, ET-igloo, Green Label, Landfill, Incineration, Compost.

Introduction

Through vigorous efforts in the past forty years, Taiwan-ROC have achieved prosperity in economics, but the environmental degradation in the area is widespread, serious and steadily increasing. Its small land mass has become overburdened with a variety of pollutants, shortages and ecological imbalances. In order to fight these problems, the EPA has initiated a tough battle combining education, enforcement and incentives. Numerous environmental laws were passed, budgets were increased, skilled personnel were recruited, and networks of institutes and companies in the areas of environmental analysis and solid waste management were set up, monitoring and enforcing compliance with environmental standards. These measures were in accordance with public concern to achieve and maintain environmental quality. In this report, the author try to concentrate the discussion on the management of environmental analysis and solid waste in Taiwan-ROC.

Environmental Analysis Management

Recognizing the importance of environmental analysis, the government of Taiwan-ROC established the National Institute of Environmental Analysis (NIEA) in 1990, to carry out the nationwide environmental analysis missions.

There are five divisions in NIEA: planning and management of environmental analysis, water analysis, solid waste/soil and toxic substances analysis, and environmental biological testing(1). The missions of NIEA are as follows:
(1) Upgrade quality of nationwide environmental analysis performance
(2) Manage and improve the capabilities of private environmental analysis organizations
(3) Support the environmental analysis requirements of the EPA
(4) Pursue quality, efficiency and reliability

Since environmental analysis can supply correct and necessary data when making pollution control and environmental conservation policies, and when enforcing inspection activities. Therefore, collection of representative and reliable data become very crucial. Also, since persistent pollutants can often accumulate in the environment over long period of time and exert adverse effects. Continuous automatic monitoring, multi-component and trace analysis, special sampling methods and technology are needed. On the one hand, strict data quality control and quality assurance practices must be taken. On the other hand, it is also important to increase the analysis capacity of local governments and encourage private environmental analysis organizations to get involved.

During these years, NIEA did its best to help establish more than 50 private laboratories, of which are actively involved in environmental analysis area. This creates an environment in which private enterprises and the public will unhesitatingly abide by environmental laws and regulations.

Solid Waste Management

Solid waste disposal is of utmost concern to the public. About 40 percent of environmental nuisance disputes focused on solid waste. Two-thirds of the EPA's annual budget is directed to solid waste management in Taiwan.

As shown in Figure 1, the amount of municipal solid waste produced annually in Taiwan has nearly tripled during the past 15 years. On average, each individual in Taiwan produced 0.63 kilograms of garbage per day in 1979, and reached 1.12 kilograms per day in 1994 . By the end of 1994, 89 percent of municipal solid waste went into landfills or dumps, 5 percent was incinerated and a tiny fraction was composted as shown in Figure 2.(2) Only 75 percent of the garbage is treated properly, 14 percent does not meet the sanitation requirements. Moreover, many landfills are filled to capacity, and building replacements is difficult since suitable land is extremely scarce, the "garbage war" often broke up island wide. The problem is not simply a matter of money that is needed for collection and treatment. We now have a population of over 21 million in a crowded environment where it is increasingly hard to find sites for disposal facilities, and projected landfills, incinerators and sea-dumps all meet with opposition from the local public or environmental groups. If we cannot respond with the "right" policies, there will be a drastic rise in the economic and social cost of waste disposal.

In reaction to these concerns, the fundamental concepts for solid waste management including:
(1) Life Cycle Cost of Product
(2) The four R's ( Reduction, Reuse, Recycling, and Regeneration)
(3) Polluter-Pay Principle
(4) "HSI-FU" (Chinese saying to teach the public to be grateful and cherish everything including natural resources.)
were incorporated into several projects as following and put into practice during the years:
(1) Sea Gull Project
(2) Project Seal
(3) ET Project
(4) HSI-FU Project
(5) Green Label Program

These projects put the life cycle cost concept, four R's and HSI-FU concepts into practice as explained below.

Life Cycle Cost

A better definition account for the product from production to disposal. The producers and retailers did not pay anything towards disposal once the product becomes waste. These costs have been borne by government expenditure, or in other words, the taxpayer. This concept opens up a new avenue for theories of environmental protection expenses.(3)

The Four R's

Reduction means reducing the amount of waste that is actually produced. As we say in Chinese "moving house three times is like losing your belongings in a fire". Less consumer goods eventually means less waste.

Reuse means waste can be reduced by buying durable items and items that can be repaired once damaged or refilled when run out.

Recycle means recovering natural resources for reuse. Around 40 percent by weight of waste can be recycled.

Regeneration is a means of bringing discarded products or resources "back to life".

Figure 2: The Disposal of Solid Waste in Taiwan Area, 1994

Pollutor-Pay Principle

Both manufacturing and consuming were carried out without any regard for the social responsibility of pollution prevention, but the newly amended act enforced in the solid waste clean up area, residents pay the clean up service fee, manufacturers are responsible for disposal of the industrial waste they produced.

"HSI-FU"

As Japan, Taiwan is relatively lacking in natural resources, but with economic activity rapidly increasing, the amount of garbage that we discard everyday is becoming greater and more complex. Garbage includes many valuable natural resources which can be reused. Because we need to cherish and be sparing with those materials. Our ancestor taught us that " One must be sparing in using everything and value every moment". Today's "luck" ( "FU" in Chinese = "FUKU" in Japanese) may not last forever, we must "protect with care" ( a verb in Chinese "HSI").

Sea Gull Project

From the summer of 1989, in summer season, the EPA allocated garbage bins to recreational beaches around the island to demonstrate responsible garbage disposal behavior. We are educating people to keep the public places clean through this project, and thus far, it has been very effective according to public response.

Project Seal

The EPA cooperated with the ROC Diving Association and several other private diving groups in keeping the coastal area from accumulating lots of garbage underwater. This project has taken place since 1989.

ET Project

The island's first curbside recycling project began in November 1989 and ended in failure in December 1992. When the only public recycling bin--1500 so-called "igloo" ( or four "E.T.s', the yellow one for metal named "Golden Mouse", the red one for plastics named "Red Pepper", the green one for glass named "Jade Frog", and the blue one for paper named " Dr. Blue".) receptacles--were removed from Taipei and Kaohsiung City after a three-year trial run. The bins had become unpopular with environmental groups because they were expensive, inefficient, and were operated by a monopoly association. Although this project failed with the igloos off the streets, but families with school-age kids began linking up with a number of schools to collect paper, metals and plastics. More people begin leaving recyclable picked up by many traditional scavengers via bicycle or handcart and resell them to distributors.

HSI-FU Project

Of course, not all refuse has to be burned or buried. Recycling is, by necessity, a vital part of ROC efforts to manage waste and is a primary concern for many environmental groups. Approximately 42 percent of garbage in the Taiwan Area is recoverable, according to the EPA. Paper alone makes up 14 percent of the total; plastics account for 13 percent. Recycling programs are now in place for PET bottles, aluminum and tin cans, batteries, tires, pesticide cans, containers for environmental sanitation chemicals, foamed polystyrene containers, lubricant oil, and lead batteries. New programs to recycle plastic containers, glass containers, aseptic pack, and waste automobiles are in the offing.

The most extensive recycling program is for PET bottles. Today, consumers can return these liter-sized plastic soda bottles to any one of 15,000 convenience stores around the island for a US$0.08 refund per bottle. According to the EPA, 80 percent of the PET bottles produced in 1993 were recycled. Most other items, however, are tougher to recycle.(4)

Green Label Program

The government encourages manufacturers to produce recycled commercial goods. Environmentally-friendly products are given a "green label" depicting a green leaf enwrapping a pollution-free earth. the label, which tells consumers that a product is not pollution-prone, was developed by the EPA during its reduce-and-recycle campaign to fight commercial waste. Manufacturers must first apply to have their products undergo screening at the Industrial Technology Research Institute before obtaining the label. The EPA hopes to grant green-label designation to more than 1,200 products within five years. The EPA will soon start accepting applications for a second batch of environmentally friendly products. The second screening will focus on mercury-free products, solar batteries, flame-retardant materials, re-usable cloth diapers, water-soluble paint, recyclable wooden goods and CFC-free products.(5)

Landfill

Landfill is the main solution to the garbage disposal in Taiwan at present. How did Taiwan's landfills get so full so fast? One major cause is that commercial and industrial waste has been dumped into municipal landfills for years. In 1994, the island produced 8.49 million metric tons of municipal solid waste and 12 million metric tons of manufacturing waste, not including waste derived from agriculture or mining. The EPA has recently taken steps to treat and reduce commercial and industrial waste. Under the 1988 amendments of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, industrial and commercial businesses were required to properly clear or dispose of the waste they generate- that is, either transport it to an approved landfill, or incinerate it in their own incinerators. The revisions also require manufacturers, importers, and distributors of certain products to recycle or reuse them. The law was not enforced until 1990. After that, the EPA made each company develop a proposal for how they would dispose of their waste. Those who violate the regulations are fined. The fee for improperly disposing of general waste is US$230-$1,150 and for improper disposal of hazardous waste, US$2,300-$5,770.(5)

Incineration

Incineration will become the most important way to treat the solid waste in Taiwan area. Three public incinerators now operate in Taiwan, and 21 others are in various stages of planning or construction around the island. The first incinerator in Taiwan, the Neihu Refuse Incineration Plant was completed in the Taipei suburb of Neihu in 1992 and now treats 900 metric tons of waste per day. When all 24 incinerators are up and running, probably in 1998, they will treat up to 22,050 metric tons of municipal solid waste each day. Factoring in annual increases in the volume of solid waste produced, the incinerators are expected to process about three-fourth of the ROC's municipal garbage. After processing, the waste will be reduced to about one-tenth its original bulk.(5)

Incineration comes at a price. Construction of the remaining incinerators will run about US$3.5 billion. Incineration will cost an estimated US$31 per metric ton of untreated waste. A bigger problem than funding may be protests from local residents. Construction on three incinerators-one in Hsinchu and two in Tainan--has been postponed due to local opposition. The government has attempted to sweeten incinerator projects by adding community improvement facilities to nearly all the design plans. The incinerator in Neihu, for example, includes a US$11.5 million public recreation area with an exhibition center, tennis courts, a playground, a skating rink, and a heated swimming pool. Nearly all the incinerator projects include similar amenities.(5)

Toxic Waste Disposal

Twenty thousand chemical substances are used regularly in the Taiwan Area. 6,000 of which are highly toxic. The EPA has established a Toxic Chemicals Databank, which provides information on toxic substances used in the Taiwan Area and promotes disaster prevention and response. The databank, which is a collection of 370 entries from the foreign database HSDB and IRIS, has been printed in Chinese characters. People who wish to gain access to the Toxic Chemicals Databank should contact the EPA's Bureau of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Chemicals Control.

Under the EPA's program for gathering information on pollution sources, the Report Registration and Licensing System for Stationary Pollution Sources and Hazardous Chemicals, all enterprises that work with toxic substances or that discharge waste gas, waste water, or industrial waste are required to file plans for properly disposing of their toxic output. Companies are then assigned deadlines for setting up disposal systems. A company that has never filed a plan for toxic waste disposal, if found to be polluting the environment, is given the heaviest penalties under the law. A company that has filed a report and received a deadline is off the hook until the deadline passes.(5)

Conclusion

References