The government is to spend NT$1.2 billion (US$37.4 million) over three years to remove all garbage pileups by the end of 2026, the Ministry of Environment said yesterday.
Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) tapped Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) to volunteer the municipality’s excess garbage incineration capabilities for the betterment of the entire nation.
The ministry is ready to help coordinate logistics and efforts, should the Taipei City Government be willing, Peng said after a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
Photo: Taipei Times
Domestic incinerators have been undergoing maintenance and upgrades on a rotational basis since 2017, resulting in 840,000 tonnes of unburied trash nationwide, he said.
The ministry had allocated funds to subsidize local government efforts to fill landfills, and package and sort exposed trash, he said.
Hsinchu County has the nation’s greatest amount of unburied trash, Peng said, adding that the Hsinchu County Government’s newly built incinerator would be trialed at the end of the year.
Other counties with severe trash problems include Pingtung and Nantou, while Taoyuan accounts for 87,000 tonnes of unburied trash, he said.
Nantou County has been planning to build an incinerator to resolve its trash issues, with Nantou County Commissioner Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) claiming that the county needed more time.
Peng said the ministry would endeavor to provide any form of assistance possible.
Environmental Management Administration Director-General Yen Hsu-ming (顏旭明) said that there are currently 28 incinerators: 24 publicly owned ones, two in Taitung and Hualien counties established through collaboration with Taiwan Cement Co (台泥), and two more in Taoyuan and Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮).
The one under construction in Hsinchu County would be the 29th incinerator, Yen said, adding that it is expected to be completed this year.
Garbage disposal is the responsibility of the local governments, as the central government does not own any incinerators, Peng said.
However, he said he hoped some cities and counties with excess incinerator capacity would step up to help.
Citing excess garbage in New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and the inability of both municipalities to handle the situation, Peng urged Chiang to provide assistance.
Ultimately, counties and cities must start reducing trash and enforce categorization for recycling, Peng said, praising Changhua County Commissioner Wang Hui-mei’s (王惠美) inspection of garbage bags, which has helped reduce the county’s trash by 30 percent.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
LOOKING FOR WHEELS: The military is seeking 8x8 single-chassis vehicles to test the new missile and potentially replace the nation’s existing launch vehicles, the source said Taiwan is developing a hypersonic missile based on the Ching Tien (擎天) supersonic cruise missile, and a Czech-made truck has been tentatively selected as its launch vehicle, a source said yesterday. The Ching Tien, formerly known as Yun Feng (雲峰, “Cloud Peak”), is a domestically developed missile with a range of 1,200km to 2,000km being deployed in casemate-type positions as of last month, an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The hypersonic missile to be derived from the Ching Tien would feature improved range and a mobile launch platform, while the latter would most likely be a 12x12 single chassis
UP AND DOWN: The route would include a 16.4km underground section from Zuoying to Fongshan and a 9.5km elevated part from Fongshan to Pingtung Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday confirmed a project to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) to Pingtung County through Kaohsiung. Cho made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the completion of a dome at Kaohsiung Main Station. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the HSR expansion in 2019 using a route that branches off a line from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營). The project was ultimately delayed due to a lack of support for the route. The Zuoying route would have trains stop at the Zuoying Station and return to a junction before traveling southward to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝).
Parts of the nation, including in the south, could experience temperatures as low as 7°C early tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. A strong continental cold air mass coupled with the effect of radiative cooling would bring cold weather to several northern cities and counties, and could even affect areas as far south as Tainan early tomorrow, the CWA said. Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties would experience temperatures below 10°C until this evening, according to cold surge advisories issued by the weather agency. The weather across the nation is forecast to remain
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