The Ministry of Environment said that it is planning to charge for plastic bags at 40 night markets and traditional markets starting in July, and Taipei’s Ningxia Night Market (寧夏夜市) might be designated as the first market for the trial
Taiwan is known for its night markets, which are filled with various street foods. However, a considerable amount of single-use plastic bags are also given out in the markets.
The government in 2002 began introducing measures to reduce the use of plastic bags. It expanded the free plastic bag ban to 14 types of businesses, including government agencies, convenience stores, pharmacies, beverage stores and bakeries in 2018.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
The annual usage of plastic bags has been reduced by about 50 percent in two decades, from about 20 billion bags to about 10 billion bags per year, the ministry’s data showed.
The ministry is planning to designate at least one market in each city or county as a “no free plastic bag” market, with a total of 40 designated markets across the nation, said Lee Yi-hua (李宜樺), an official from the Ministry of Environment’s Resource Circulation Administration.
Vendors in designated markets would not be allowed to offer free plastic bags, but the ban does not apply to plastic bags containing food, Lee said.
The trial is expected to start in July and to run through the end of the year, with respective local environmental protection departments choosing the markets for the demonstration, he added.
“The trial market in Taipei is likely to be Ningxia Night Market,” Lee said.
Ningxia Night Market has been working toward becoming eco-friendly by replacing disposable tableware with reusable ones, so its vendors and customers should be more accepting of the plastic bag ban, Lee added.
However, vendors at Ningxia Night Market have polarized reactions to the possible policy.
Some vendors said that they sometimes have customers who bring their own reusable food containers when buying food, as well as foreign customers who ask if they need to pay for plastic bags, showing a high acceptance of plastic reduction measures.
Meanwhile, others said that the policy would only cause extra trouble for vendors and customers.
It would be difficult to ban free plastic bags at traditional markets, as meat and seafood products cannot be put into a big reusable bag like fruits and vegetables, and some products need to be separated by plastic bags to keep them fresh, a traditional market vendor said when asked to comment on the policy.
Another vendor said they would feel embarrassed to ask customers to pay NT$1 or NT$2 for a plastic bag.
As for customers, a woman surnamed Chang (張) said that she believes the policy would encourage more people to bring reusable shopping bags.
Meanwhile, a customer surnamed Chen (陳) said they wonder whether the policy would be effective in reducing plastic waste.
If consumers do not change their habits, the amount of plastic waste would not decrease, the only change would be that people would need to pay for plastic bags, Chen said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at