Amid increasing criticism of its waste-management policy, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday it would review the necessity of building more incinerators.
The announcement comes a day after hundreds of anti-incinerator activists and residents at a construction site for a new incinerator in Linnei township (林內鄉), Yunlin County, clashed with police, injuring several officers.
They said that the incinerator, which would burn 600 tonnes of household waste a day, would be located just 1.8km from an area earmarked for the construction of a new water-treatment plant.
"Don't say that we did not hear what they said," said Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), the EPA administrator. "We plan to both review the waste-management policy and promote waste reduction."
Opposition to the EPA's burning-oriented waste policy has been increasing since September, when the Legislative Yuan first reviewed the agency's budget for next year.
Yesterday, representatives of 122 anti-incinerator groups held a press conference at the Legislative Yuan with lawmakers, accusing the EPA of wasting taxpayers' money to build unnecessary incinerators.
"Burning-oriented waste management policies result in a low recycling rate of 14.5 percent," said Chen Jian-zhi (陳建志), director of the waste policy committee of the Green Citizens' Action Alliance.
Activists also charge that inappropriate operation of incinerators creates not only air pollution but also toxic dioxin.
In response, Hau said the agency would develop sounder policies to promote recycling and the reduction of garbage within six months.
The EPA will also review projects to build new incinerators to see it there are alternatives.
According to Chen Lien-ping (陳聯平), director-general of the EPA's Bureau of Incinerator Engineering, new-incinerator projects in seven areas would be reviewed.
The seven incinerators, with a combined capacity of 3,350 tonnes, were planned for Yunlin County, Hsinchu City, Miaoli County, Taichung City, Nantou County, Hualien County and Taipei County, Chen said.
Hau, however, stressed that the ideal situation was for each jurisdiction to have at least one incinerator to avoid having to transport waste over long distances.
More than a dozen assistants to lawmakers of the legislature's Committee for Sanitation, Environment and Social Welfare released a press release yesterday to point out what they said was a contradiction in the EPA's announcement.
Of the seven planned incinerators, only two, in Taipei County and Taichung City, would be located in jurisdictions that already have an incinerator.
"If the EPA insists on building at least one incinerator in each jurisdiction, then the review will only affect two out of the seven," said a DPP lawmaker's assistant who declined to be identified.
Earlier this month, lawmakers approved only a small part of the EPA's budget for next year because of severe disagreements over its waste management policies.
The remaining NT$7.56 billion, which includes NT$3.27 billion for building new incinerators, will be reviewed again by the 12 standing committees today.
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