WasteManagement26(2006)
661–667
/locate/wasman
Countryreport
MSWmanagementforwasteminimizationinTaiwan:
Thelasttwodecades
Li-TehLu
a
a,*
,Teng-YuanHsiaob,Neng-ChouShanga,Yue-HwaYua,Hwong-WenMa
a
GraduateInstituteofEnvironmentalEngineering,NationalTaiwanUniversity,71,Chou-ShanRoad,10660Taipei,Taiwanb
DepartmentofTourismIndustry,Jin-WenInstituteofTechnology,99,Ann-ChungRoad,231TaipeiCounty,Taiwan
Accepted12October2005Availableonline7December2005
Abstract
Taiwanisthesecondmostdenselypopulatedcountryintheworld;its22.604millionresidents(2002)liveinanareaof35,967km2(628people/km2).TaiwanÕseconomyhasgrownrapidlyduringthelast20years,resultinginacorrespondingincreaseintheamountofmunicipalsolidwaste(MSW).ThisstudydescribesandevaluatesthemunicipalsolidwastemanagementsysteminTaiwan.ThestudyÕsresultsindicatethattheamountofMSWbegantodeclineafter1997,whenthegovernmentenforcedaggressiveMSWmanagementpolicies.By2002,totalMSWproductionhaddroppedby27%,andtheaveragedailypercapitaweightofMSWhadfallenfrom1.14kgin1997to0.81kgin2002.SummarizingthesuccessfulexperienceofMSWreductioninTaiwan,themostimportantfactorwasthegovernmentÕscombiningoftheMSWcollectionsystemwithreduction/recyclingprograms.Thesecondmostimportantfactorwasthepolicyofextendedproducerresponsibility,whichlaidafoundationofrecyclingbyproducersandretailersandpromotedpublicrecycling.
Ó2005ElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved.
1.Introduction
Municipalsolidwaste(MSW)managementisaglobalproblem.Discoveringhowtoutilizewastereductionandresourcerecyclingprogramse ectivelyhasbecomeaprior-ityinrecentyears(Annegrete,2001).Theincreasingpro-ductionofMSWhasreachedthepointatwhichchangesmustbemade,includingtheimplementationofwastemin-imizationprograms(AgapitidisandFrantzis,1998).MSWminimizationhasbeenplacedatthetopofthesolidwastemanagementhierarchy(BaiandSutanto,2002).MSW
Abbreviations:C&C,controlandcommand;DSD,dualessystemDe-utschland;EPR,extendedproducerresponsibility;GNP,grossnationalproduct;LCIA,lifecycleinventoryassessment;MSW,municipalsolidwaste;OECD,organizationforeconomiccooperationanddevelopment;PE,polyester;PET,polyethyleneterephthalate;PP,polypropylene;PS,polystyrene;PVC,polyvinylchloride;VCF,volume-basedcollectionfee.*
Correspondingauthor.Tel.:+886918135732;fax:+886223067783.E-mailaddress:luliteh@(L.-T.Lu).
0956-053X/$-seefrontmatterÓ2005ElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2005.10.005
minimizationconsistsoftwobasicoperations:sourcesreductionandrecycling(Hopperetal.,1993).
ToassessMSWmanagementsystems,asimpleindicatortosimulatethee ectsofMSWmanagementsystemsacrossdi erentregionswasadopted.Assessmentofanoptimalwastedisposalsystemshouldutilizeanumberofstandardindicators(Hasomeetal.,2001).Wilson(2002)evaluatedthestrategies,systems,operations,andeconomicfactorsofMSWmanagementsystemsinothercountries.Wilsonadoptedthelifecycleinventoryassessment(LCIA)tocom-pareenvironmentalloadingsfordi erentregulationspro-posedforMSWmanagement.ChinaÕswastedisposalissuesincludesoil,air,andwaterpollution;mixed-wastecollection;impropermanagement;inadequateequipmentandtraining,andthepublicÕslackofunderstandingofthedisposalsystem(Wang,2001a).Thee ectoftheseunre-solvedissuesisthatnearlyhalfofChinaÕswasteisbeingdumpedontheoutskirtsofcities,resultinginsubstantialenvironmentalpollution(Wang,2001b).Inaddition,adescriptionandanalysisofMSWmanagementinTaiwan
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L.-T.Luetal./WasteManagement26(2006)661–667
wasneededandfewstudiesfocusedonthisissue.ThispaperanalyzesMSWmanagementinTaiwanduringthelasttwodecades,evaluatesthepolicyofwasteminimiza-tion,andidenti esfuturechallenges.
parisonofMSWmanagementpolicybetweenTaiwanandothercountries
ReviewingtheamountsofMSWproducedinorganiza-tionforeconomiccooperationanddevelopment(OECD)countriesrevealsthattheamountofwastegeneratedpercapitaperdayinTaiwanwasbelow1kgin2000,whileinallotherOECDcountriestheamountexceeded1kg.InAsia,betweenSingapore,HongKong,SouthKorea,andTaiwan,Taiwanwasalsothelowest(OECD,2002).Fig.1,comparesMSWproductioninselectedcountriesfrom1980to2000(OECD,2002).Theresultsshowthatothercountrieshavealsoexperiencedamajorandrapidincreaseinwasteproductionoverthelast20years.Inaddi-tion,TaiwanÕsaccomplishmentsinreducingMSWareremarkablewhencomparedtoothercountries.
Table1
ComparisonoftheMSWcompositioninTaiwanandothercountriesin2000(OECD,2002;TEPA,2003)
Paper(%)
USAJapanKorea
NetherlandsHongKongSingaporeTaiwan
38332628272126
Foodandgardenwaste(%)23342539335031
Plastics(%)11137517622
Glass(%)5546317
Metals(%)8393334
Textilesandothers(%)1512291918209
Table2
ComparisonoftherecyclingsystemsofGermany,JapanandTaiwan(Chen,2003)
Germany
RecyclinglawsRecyclableitems
RecycleandWasteMaterialControlActContainers,appliances,vehicles,lubricants,batteries
Japan
Billofresourcesrecycling
Containers/packages,householdelectricalappliances,vehicles
Taiwan
WasteDisposalAct