While Orchid Island (蘭嶼), also known as Lanyu, is renowned for its natural beauty and maritime culture, the 48km2 volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan has also become notorious for its pollution.
In addition to long-standing concerns about the potential adverse effects of radioactive waste stored on the island in the country’s only nuclear waste storage facility, many are now worried about Lanyu’s garbage crisis caused by rampant littering and improper trash disposal.
“Though I took the trouble of separating my garbage, the proprietor of my guesthouse [in Lanyu] just threw everything together into a trash can,” Tainan Community University chairman Huang Huan-chang (黃煥彰) said, after conducting a ecological field investigation on the island in late June.
Photo courtesy of Huang Huan-chang
After seeing numerous recyclable items, such as plastic bottles or glass containers, scattered around a reef off the island, Huang, who doubles as a board member of Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan, said he launched an immediate probe into pollution on the island upon returning to Taiwan proper.
Huang said he found that since most Lanyu residents did not recycle their waste, a private recycling firm hired by Taitung County’s Environmental Protection Bureau collected the residents’ trash bags, ripped them open and recycled only the exact number of items stipulated in their outsourcing contract.
“Such an absurd way of recycling shows that a proper recycling system is completely lacking on this island,” Huang said.
To address the matter, Huang said, the government should take initiatives such as: screening educational films on boats headed to Lanyu; stepping up efforts to educate locals about recycling; funding the cost of transporting recycled goods to Taiwan proper and purchasing compression devices for plastic bottles and aluminum cans; and recruiting voluntary workers to collect trash.
Green Formosa Front standing director Lin Chang-mao (林長茂), who conducted an on-site detection of radioactive contamination in Lanyu last week, said that nothing was being recycled on the island whatsoever and that he was devastated by the sight of trash strewen along the seashore.
Fu Chih-nan (傅志男), another Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan board member who carried out an ecological investigation on the island in August, expressed regret over the inaction of some scuba diving instructors, who Fu said stood by as tourists destroyed coral reefs by treading on them.
According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, there are more than 5,500 vehicles — including 502 cars and 5,037 motorcycles and scooters — on the roads of Lanyu, resulting in large quantities of used engine oil being thrown away.
A member of the Lanyu Youth Action Alliance, Taiwan, identified only as A-wen (阿文), initiated a campaign to recycle used motor oil on the island in April.
However, A-wen was discouraged by the relatively small amount of waste oil recycled since he launched the scheme.
“Over the course of six months, only four barrels — or 800 liters — of used motor oil have been recycled, an amount far below my previous estimates. Where is all the used motor oil in Lanyu going?” A-wen said.
Ma Nien-ho (馬念和), the executive secretary of the Environmental Protection Administration’s Recycling Fund Management Board, said the Lanyu Township Office should take responsibility for the island’s recycling because most private waste collection firms were disinclined to do the job, given the small amount of recycled goods in the area and its remote location.
“However, the administration is offering freight subsidies as part of its effort to help ship recyclable items to Taiwan proper for further processing,” Ma said.
In response, Environmental Protection Bureau director Huang Ming-en (黃明恩) said that although Lanyu’s recycling rate has increased over the past few years — thanks to the bureau promoting recycling through conventions, forums and radio — more public cooperation was required to make further improvements.
“While the bureau will continue to step up its efforts to tackle the issue through various channels, we urge residents to coordinate recycling efforts,” he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS