Recycle in Taiwan
Wednesday, 12 March 2014 at07:21
Taiwan is a small island with limited natural resources,
most of the raw materials in Taiwan were imported. To solve the increasingly
serious waste problem and encourage a closed-loop economy that minimizes
resource loss, the Environmental Protection Administration of Taiwan (EPAT)
actively promotes resource recovery and has developed standards for collection,
waste treatment and recycling of MSW. Among the wastes targeted by EPAT’s recycling
and resource recovery program, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
are increasing the most rapidly.
The various
materials contained in WEEE are complicated. They may include hazardous
substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, and chlorofluorocarbons. If WEEE is
not collected, stored and recycled in an environmentally sound manner, these
substances can cause harm to human health and the environment. At the same time,
WEEE also contain valuable resources, including gold, silver, copper, and
palladium, whose recovery can support a closed-loop economy. For these reasons,
it has been important to EPAT to define standards for WEEE treatment and
incentivize WEEE recycling as part of its broader recycling and resource
recovery program.
EPAT’s recycling
efforts began when the Waste Disposal Act of 1979 was amended in March 1997 to
require recycling and resource recovery for selected MSW, or regulated recyclable
wastes (RRW). EPAT established the 4-in-1 Recycling Program. This program
integrates manufacturers and importers of new RRW products into a complete
system that also includes recyclers, municipal collection teams, and community
residents. To develop the 4-in-1 Recycling Program, EPAT looked at the policies
of countries such as Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia and Germany,
and adapted components of these systems to local culture.