More than 6,020 tonnes of garbage were collected from the nation’s beaches and coastal waters in the third quarter, with the majority coming from Kaohsiung, data released yesterday by the Ocean Conservation Administration showed.
The marine trash was collected by divers hired by local governments, civic group volunteers and companies from July to last month.
Of the total collected, nearly 5,793 tonnes came from beaches, while 227 tonnes were collected from waters and sea floors near the shores, agency data showed.
The amount of trash collected was higher than those in the previous two quarters, as more groups joined the cleanup last month, agency section chief Hsu Chung-li (徐仲禮) said, adding that the agency funded local governments that applied for cleanup projects.
More than 1,965 tonnes of the garbage were collected from the shores in Kaohsiung, mainly used fishing nets and gears, followed by 1,544 tonnes from Yunlin County, 631 tonnes from Miaoli County and 555 tonnes from Pingtung County, agency data showed.
The agency said that 31.7 percent of the collected trash was recyclable: glass bottles (11.8 percent); plastic bottles (7.6 percent); waste paper (7.1 percent); iron cans ( 2.9 percent); and aluminum cans (2.3 percent).
Meanwhile, 68.3 percent of the trash was not recyclable: fishing nets or gears (18.3 percent); bamboo or wooden debris (13.7 percent were); Styrofoam products (6.4 percent); and unclassifiable trash (29.9 percent), the data showed.
The ratio of non-recyclable trash dropped to 93.1 percent in the first half of this year, agency data showed.
Due to the potential impact of marine trash on creatures in the ocean, fishers are encouraged to collect trash for recycling and get additional incentives, Hsu said.
Apart from encouraging people to produce less garbage, the agency is seeking channels to recycle used nets that pose a greater risk to marine life, he said.
Several businesses, including Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp, have expressed an interest in reusing nets to make textile fibers, but they are more willing to accept nets made of nylon, instead of mixed materials, he said, advising fishers to sort out and clean used nets before giving them to recyclers.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS