The Executive Yuan's "Open Mic" YouTube live-webcast program, hosted by Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun, today invited Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Wei Kuo-yen to talk about "city mining" and issues related to the recycling and reuse of electronic waste, or e-waste, to "transform trash into gold."
Minister Wei first explained to netizens the concept of city mining: the recovery of iron, bronze, lead and other such resources from demolished old buildings in cities and the retrieval of rare metals from recycled electronics as well as information and communications technology products. These retrieved resources are then used to make new products. Such processes not only are in accord with the global "from cradle to cradle" trend, they also make it possible for such resources to be completely recycled and reused.
Although Taiwan lacks natural minerals, it can salvage such resources from city waste, Wei noted. For example, mobile phone panels contain rare metals, and computer components contain gold. Though rare earth minerals needed for electronics manufacturing are principally produced in Inner Mongolia, some can be retrieved through city mining.
If recyclers can turn waste into cultural and creative commercial products, their added value will rise. For example, recycled glass waste can be remade into artistic works resembling the tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang dynasty.
Wei further pointed out that Taiwan's resource recycling and reuse mechanisms are among the most advanced in the world. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy affirmed these mechanisms during her April 2014 visit to Taiwan and expressed hope for further U.S.-Taiwan collaboration in the field. Furthermore, the ROC is helping Indonesia and other countries to resolve resource recycling and reuse problems.
Taiwan has more than 10,000 sites for e-waste collection, and the EPA will improve publicity of such waste-collection channels, Wei said to netizens. The EPA has enforced registration and tracking management of recycling operators, and in the future it will set up a comprehensive detection management system.
The EPA has taken great strides over the past year, such as the passage of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act that came into force July 1, 2015, Wei stated. For the first time since legislation was enacted 40 years ago to control air pollution, the nation has instituted a cap-and-trade scheme to control air quality.
Moreover, the Water Pollution Control Act has been amended to impose heavy penalties on violators. The EPA has also promoted the smart city and smart township project and set up monitoring and testing equipment to detect PM2.5 (airborne particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) in townships and cities. Furthermore, this year on a trial basis in the Taoyuan region the EPA started adding tracers to edible-oil waste to manage and track its whereabouts. In the future the EPA will promote such measures in more counties and cities to channel such oil into "city oilfields" for distillation into biodiesel for reuse.
Regarding public concern about PM2.5, Wei stated that PM2.5 has always existed in nature, but Taiwan's PM2.5 emissions consist primarily of construction and road dust. The EPA has monitored and controlled the emissions of industries as well as vehicles like cars and scooters. Wei and Sun both called upon the public to make good use of mass transportation and work with the government to help reduce PM2.5 pollution.
The webcast, which ran from 7-8 p.m., can be viewed on the Executive Yuan's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=552y12jNiJM.