Greenpeace Urges the Taiwan Government to Resolve the Garbage Crisis

Taipei, Taiwan. April 23, 2024 – Greenpeace today held a press conference highlighting ongoing challenges in Taiwan’s waste management. Despite years of policies aimed at reducing waste, the total volume of garbage in Taiwan has continued to increase rather than decrease, indicating a significant shortfall in these policies’ effectiveness. After studying satellite images and conducting on-site visits, Greenpeace estimates that at least 100 temporary waste storage sites have been established across Taiwan since 2018, and over the years, these sites have gradually accumulated, turning into unsightly and malodorous garbage mountains.

Greenpeace East Asia Taipei’s campaigner Chang Kai-ting (張凱婷) said:

“In each city and county across Taiwan, there is at least one temporary storage site where trash accumulates to an alarming level. These sites, often plagued by fires of varying sizes and intensities, have become ticking time bombs, posing unpredictable hazards to local communities. Notably, eight of these sites are located near water source protection zones and water sources, and sixty are in close proximity to schools, threatening the daily lives of the population. We strongly urge the government to tackle this public safety issue with due diligence, starting with increasing the budget for ‘source reduction.’ “

Greenpeace has reviewed the budget allocations for waste management from the Ministry of Environment from 2018 to 2024, conducting a thorough analysis of the government’s spending. The analysis compares investments in “end-of-pipe” solutions, such as supporting the construction and upgrade of local incinerators, waste compacting, and marine debris removal, against expenditures on “source reduction” initiatives, such as restricting single-use items, promoting reusable containers, and subsidies for water dispenser installations. Over this seven-year period, a total of NT$12.4 billion (averaging NT$1.77 billion annually) was allocated to end-of-pipe treatments. This significantly overshadows the NT$570 million (averaging NT$80 million annually) directed towards source reduction efforts, representing a disparity of more than 22-fold.

Chang said:

“A cross-analysis revealed that between 2018 and 2024, while the government allocated NT$12.4 billion to ‘end-of-pipe’ solutions, over 100 temporary storage sites across Taiwan have transformed into mountains of garbage. This is indicative of a gross misallocation of resources, resulting in a vicious cycle of increased spending alongside escalating waste volumes. The incoming administration must prioritize budget reallocation, placing a greater emphasis on ‘source reduction – prevent waste and promote reuse’ to prevent repeating the same mistakes and creating more garbage mountains.”

Despite over two decades of government policies aimed at reducing waste in Taiwan, with recent initiatives specifically targeting plastic reduction, the overall waste volume has not decreased. Particularly alarming is the marked increase in the proportion of plastic waste within household trash, which has risen from approximately 17% in 2018 to about 28% in 2022.

Meanwhile, public incinerators across Taiwan face challenges due to annual maintenance or are nearing decommissioning as they approach the end of their service life. As a result, excess garbage that cannot be processed by these facilities is instead left outdoors at various transfer stations and landfills. According to statistics from the Ministry of Environment, as of the end of 2022, approximately 750,000 metric tons of waste are temporarily stored and remain unprocessed across Taiwan.

Greenpeace is calling on the Taiwan government to commit to resolving, during its tenure, the issue of garbage mountains, and to allocate increased funding for the following actions:

1. Enhance the enforcement of regulations that prohibit the use of disposable tableware and bottled water at government-funded or subsidized activities.
2. Broaden the scope of locations where disposable tableware is banned and offer subsidies to assist businesses in transitioning to reusable alternatives.
3. Subsidize across various industries to pilot the adoption of bulk selling (BYO container) and refillable containers.
4. Strengthen inter-ministerial collaboration to develop the reusable packaging industry supply chain.

Media Contacts:

Ai-Ling Chen, Greenpeace East Asia, Taipei [email protected]

Cony Chang, Greenpeace East Asia, Taipei [email protected]