Forty-seven market associations nationwide are working with the Ministry of Environment and local governments to reduce plastic waste by encouraging the public to bring their own bags when shopping, a ministry official said yesterday.
The initiative aims to cut plastic bag usage by 20 percent, or about 65 million bags each year.
Ministry official Lai Ying-ying (賴瑩瑩) said that local market associations would be asked to provide shopping carts and second-hand bags to market-goers.
Photo: Chen Tse-ming, Taipei Times
Vendors would also be encouraged to ask customers if they need shopping bags rather than automatically offering them, and display signs promoting reduced plastic bag use, Lai said.
However, plastic bags intended to come into direct contact with food items including fresh produce would still be allowed to ensure hygiene and food safety, she said.
The goal is for people to enjoy a pleasant shopping experience while using fewer plastic bags, she said.
Lai said she hopes people will develop a habit of bringing their own eco-friendly bags, and putting fruits and vegetables together into one bag when shopping.
Taipei Nanmen Market Association president Wang Chuan-kuo (王銓國) said the organization is working to communicate with vendors about the effects of climate change such as rising summer temperatures.
Wang said he hopes traditional markets can encourage customers to reuse shopping bags, just as supermarkets and convenience stores have done.
Traditional markets account for 50 to 60 percent of plastic bag usage in Taiwan, the ministry said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS