The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is to research plastic pollution in drinking water and seafood, an EPA official said yesterday, as a response to Greenpeace Taiwan’s call for more monitoring of marine pollution.
Greenpeace Taiwan in November last year and last month held ocean clean-up days in Keelung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County and yesterday revealed its findings at a news conference in Taipei.
In Keelung it collected between 86 and 409 pieces of microplastics — plastic trash that is less than 5mm long — and between two and 39 pieces of trash in different areas off the coast of southern Taiwan, said Hiin Studio deputy executive officer Kuo Fu (郭芙), who collaborated with Greenpeace Taiwan’s project.
Photo: CNA
Microplastics and hard plastics are the most commonly found garbage in Taiwan’s marine areas, she said, adding that the debris often attaches to plankton and microorganisms that have similar weights and volumes.
Microplastics also jeopardize the entire food chain, but research into marine pollution is lacking in Taiwan, Greenpeace Taiwan ocean campaigner Yen Ning (顏寧) said, calling on the government to launch more research on plastic pollution.
The EPA’s Environmental Analysis Laboratory is this year to begin monitoring microplastics in drinking water and farmed fish, laboratory director Yen Chun-lan (顏春蘭) said.
The laboratory is to test 89 water purification plants nationwide for microplastics in the nation’s drinking water, the laboratory’s section chief Yang Hsi-nan (楊喜男) said.
To test the level of plastic pollution in seafood, samples of water, sand and certain farmed fish are to be taken from Changhua County’s Wanggong Village (王功), Yunlin County’s Taisi Township (台西), Chiayi County’s Dongshih Township (東石), Tainan’s Anping District (安平), Penghu County and Matsu (馬祖), he said, adding that they would submit the reports to the EPA at the end of the year.
In July last year, the EPA, Greenpeace Taiwan and other environmental groups formed an ocean waste management platform.
The group has met at least once a month, Yen Ning said, adding that they would unveil new plans on how to tackle marine pollution later this month.
The plan aims to reduce plastics at the source, enact prevention and clean up measures in marine environments, research and monitor marine pollution and enhance public engagement in such efforts, she said.
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
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