Businesses operating at Taipei government agencies, schools and city venues run by outside contractors would be required to charge for disposable tableware, including cutlery and containers, starting from July 22.
A fee of at least NT$1 would be charged for each disposable container, plate, set of chopsticks or spoon in the approximately 280 designated venues, the city government said in a statement yesterday.
Photo: Chen En-hui, Taipei Times
It estimated that the measure is to cut the use of disposable tableware items by 27 million pieces per year.
The Taipei Department of Environmental Protection said the restriction would be carried out in stages, starting with public spaces and then moving to private operators of food services, to comply with a city ordinance passed in July last year on net-zero emissions management.
The city began in 2020 to charge fees for and recycle disposable tableware at 119 of the city venues run by contractors that provide such services, the department said.
Many public and private operators have joined in the initiative, and by strengthening plastic and waste-reducing policies, the city hopes people would be encouraged to prepare their own cutlery and containers, it said.
The department previously promoted restrictions on the use of melamine resin tableware in 2016.
As of last year, a total of 902 venues, including 38 markets, 13 night markets, 29 universities, 27 central government agencies, 119 outsourced venues, 53 department stores, 16 wholesale markets and 607 firms, have joined in, the department said.
Melamine is not heat-resistant and releases harmful chemicals when heated, the city said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS