TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said Thursday the city will initiate a permanent ban on using food waste as pig feed.

Lu said banning food waste as feed is a trend that Taichung intends to pursue, per SETN. She added the city government is still in discussions with pig farmers and related industries.

Asked whether Taichung would consider centralizing food-waste processing for pig feed once the central government lifts its temporary ban, Lu said the city has no such plan. She noted that while centralization may improve feed quality, transportation time and delays in farmers feeding their pigs could create low-temperature conditions that allow germs to grow, per UDN.

Taichung Pig Farmers’ Association Executive Secretary Yang Chun-chieh (楊駿杰) reiterated his opposition to a ban, per Tai Sounds. He warned that since locally raised black pigs are heavily dependent on food waste to reduce costs, prohibiting its use would decimate the population of homegrown black pigs.

Yang also noted that Taichung produces 300 tonnes of food waste per month, and added the city’s incinerators already struggle to handle the load.

Pingtung Black Pig Farming Association urged the central government to take the lead in centralizing food-waste processing, per Liberty Times. Association Chair Fang Chih-yuan (方志源) said that although only 6% of pig farmers use food waste as feed, they help process 60% of the country’s food waste.

Fang warned that food-waste processing has become a challenge for major municipalities. He said Taichung’s earlier practice of dumping food waste outdoors risks spreading African swine fever into the wild.

Fang argued the long-term solution is centralized processing, allowing facilities to safely handle food waste containing animal proteins. He suggested that since the final product is liquid feed, white pigs could also benefit from it.

Meanwhile, pig farmer Liu Chia-shun (劉嘉順), who established Taiwan’s first food-waste processing center, is facing pressure from the central government’s temporary ban, per News&Market. His facility, modeled after those in Japan and built after the 2018 African swine fever outbreak in China, is now idle. The ban forced him to revert to other types of feed.

Liu said he supports banning food waste as feed but emphasized that Taiwan currently needs pig farmers to help manage food-waste volume. He also pointed out that despite strong initial interest from central and local governments, no farmers have joined his processing center.

Liu noted many farmers prefer to process their own food waste. He explained that since using food waste as feed is still legal, they see little incentive to switch to liquid feed produced by centralized facilities.