TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) posted on Facebook that he has visited landfills and temporary waste storage sites, saying that source reduction and cooperation between central and local governments is needed.
Peng estimated it would take 12 years to remove trash from temporary waste storage sites. He said resolving Taiwan’s garbage problem is complicated and would require new technologies, including digital management, better scheduling, and innovative methods.
Greenpeace reported that satellite images and onsite visits revealed a minimum of 100 temporary garbage sites have been established in Taiwan since 2018. Greenpeace said that nearly every city and county has at least one temporary waste storage site, many of which have become trash mountains, expanding quickly with little regulation.
Of the new temporary waste storage sites, Greenpeace found that 60 are less than 2 kilometers away from schools, and eight are adjacent to water resource conservation areas. Not only has the number of landfill areas increased, but so has the volume.
At the end of 2023, the Ministry of Environment (MOEV) said garbage in temporary disposal sites had reached 840,000 tons. Legislators have even joked that these sites have become Taiwan's new “100 peaks."
"Source management is the most important thing in reducing garbage," said Peng on Facebook. He added that the reuse of industrial waste spans different ministries and agencies. Furthermore, it needs a unified authority to ensure all actions comply with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Peng said cooperation between central and local governments is also needed to develop suitable solutions at factory sites. “In addition to striving to build large AI factories, we must also support resource recycling. The goal of waste treatment is full recycling and zero waste,” the minister said.
