TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following Taipei’s New Year’s Eve party, the city dispatched a cleaning crew of 745 people early Sunday (Jan. 1) to clean up the mess left by revelers in Taipei’s Xinyi District.

Within just one hour following the conclusion of the outdoor performance and fireworks show, cleaning crews collected 8.1 metric tons of garbage, as well as 5.1 metric tons of recyclable materials, according to the Taipei Department for Environmental Protection (DEP).

As the event was winding down, the DEP ensured there were large garbage disposal areas easily accessible for people leaving the event. In addition to the 745 cleaning personnel, the bureau also mobilized 26 vehicles, including eight large garbage trucks to deal with the waste.

Following the trash cleanup, 61 workers with disinfectant equipment swept the streets around Taipei 101 to ensure the streets were clean. A team of four small electric street sweepers could also be seen giving the roads a final sweep to restore the area's usual appearance within an hour of the celebration’s end.

The amount of waste was a slight increase over that of the 2022 New Year celebrations, which produced 7.5 tons of garbage, and 4.8 tons of recyclables. The increase was likely due to relaxed attitudes toward eating and drinking in public, in relation to the easing of pandemic restrictions, per the Taipei DEP.

Electric street sweepers clean up Xinyi District, Jan. 1 (DEP photo)