TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The government plans to clear all uncovered garbage sites within two years, Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming (彭啓明) said on Thursday (Oct. 24).

Speaking at a Cabinet press conference, Peng said the government will invest NT$1.2 billion (US$37.43 million) over three years to achieve this goal, per CNA. According to the environment ministry, 732,000 tons of garbage were sitting in 48 open-air sites throughout Taiwan as of June. The hills of garbage are colloquially known as “trash mountains" (垃圾山). 

Peng said that since 2017, improvement projects have begun on waste incinerators around the country, meaning between 90,000 to 170,000 tons of waste is being sent to dumping sites annually. He said in some places these sites have been used as a temporary solution while the incinerators are out of action, and have therefore been left exposed.

To solve this problem, the Cabinet has announced the investment and other plans to help local governments process the waste, Peng said.

Uncovered waste will be stored, buried, or incinerated, Peng said. The environment ministry will supervise local governments to create plans for removing the waste, and for monitoring once it has been dealt with.

The ministry will also establish an AI-enabled national landfill monitoring platform, Peng said. He added some localities will be offered central government subsidies, and environmentally sensitive areas will be prevented from accepting further waste.

Peng said 29 waste incineration facilities are expected to be operating throughout Taiwan by 2027. He said that as more incinerators open, the imbalance of waste to processing capacity will gradually be solved.

Hsinchu, Pingtung, Nantou, and Taoyuan are the areas with the greatest amount of uncovered waste, Peng said. He said that a new waste incinerator is expected to come online in Hsinchu at the end of the year, and Nantou is also working to open an incinerator plant then.

Peng said that Taipei City has enough incinerators to accept some waste from other localities, but local regulations prevent it from doing so. He called on Taipei City Council to act in the spirit of “one island, one life" (同島一命) and assist other areas to deal with their waste.

The environment ministry is willing to help facilitate this process, Peng said.

Reducing the amount of waste produced is also important, Peng said. He said successful waste reduction efforts include Taipei and New Taipei's paid rubbish bag scheme, as well as increased inspections that have been carried out in Changhua.