The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is looking to devise a program that would focus on recycling industrial waste from three companies that produce most of the non-recycled industrial waste in the nation, the Industrial Development Bureau said on Sunday.
At the suggestion of Minister Without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森), the bureau said it has been instructed to draft a program by the end of the year to recycle industrial waste, such as gypsum from Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), slag from China Steel Corp (中鋼) and paper from Chung Hwa Pulp Corp (中華紙漿).
The waste products can be recycled and used to create by-products, but are categorized as waste due to laws and regulations in Taiwan, the bureau said.
Specialists employed on the program are to study the laws and regulations and come up with a standard operational procedure to pave the way for more in-depth research starting next year, as they seek to develop solutions to the problem.
General waste generation in Taiwan amounted to 31.92 million tonnes in 2018, including 19.61 million tonnes of industrial waste, Chang said.
Of the total industrial waste, 16.01 tonnes, or 81.6 percent, was recycled, while the remaining 18 percent was largely from the three firms, he said.
With this in mind, Chang suggested at a circular economy forum last week that the ministry develop a short to medium-term program to recycle waste products generated by the three companies.
He also suggested that the ministry set up a data bank for all industrial materials and waste products, including those in solid, liquid and gas states, and establish a verification mechanism and transaction platform for recycled resources.
Manufacturers should consider the reduction of raw materials and recycling when designing products and make them an integral part of the production process, Chang said, adding that solar panel and electronics producers need to create products that can be fully recycled.
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