Beverage shops are to be banned from serving drinks in single-use plastic cups in September, the Ministry of Environment said yesterday, adding that it is also considering subsidizing the use of reusable cups at professional baseball games and other enclosed venues.
Beverage shops in 21 cities and counties have already stopped using single-use takeaway plastic cups since the Parties Subject to and Means for Single-use Takeaway Beverage Cups Restrictions (一次用飲料杯限制使用對象及實施方式) were implemented on July 1, 2022, the ministry said in a statement.
Aside from banning single-use plastic cups, the rules also require shops to provide reusable cups for customers to borrow and give customers who bring their own reusable cups a rebate of at least NT$5.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
Kinmen County, which still permits single-use plastic cups, would begin prohibiting them in September, the ministry said.
“That means no beverage shops in the country would provide single-use plastic cups starting in September,” it said.
The rules have since July 2022 helped reduce the use of single-use beverage cups by 17 percent and about 790 million single-use plastic cups have been replaced by reusable cups or cups made from materials other than plastic, ministry data showed.
As of last year, 1,763 retail stores and restaurants from seven large convenience store chains and eight fast food chains have provided reusable cups, which accounted for 12 percent of all the retail sales venues they owned, the ministry said.
Collectively, they provided 198,000 reusable cups for customers to borrow, it added.
Last year, 160 million drinks sold in convenience stores and fast-food restaurants were served using consumers’ own cups, and the percentage of customers who brought their cups was 2.8 times higher than before the rules were implemented, the ministry said, citing data from convenience store and fast-food chain operators.
“This shows how a government policy has changed the habits of consumers,” the ministry said.
To further reduce the use of single-use plastic cups, the ministry said that it is considering subsidizing the use of reusable cups at professional baseball games and other enclosed venues.
The purpose is to give those who have not tried using reusable cups the opportunity to access the service in the hope they would consider using it again.
The ministry also stipulates guidelines for operators who offer reusable cups, which regulate borrowing, returning, cleaning and inspection of reusable cups, as well as communication with consumers, it said.
“The quality of reusable cup services must be consistent, and business operators who offer the service must submit a report on hygiene inspection results every six months,” the ministry said, adding that no operator failed the hygiene inspection last year.
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