Charlotte Middlehurst - How The Country Once Nicknamed ‘Garbage Island’ Cut Waste By 30%
In the ’80s and ’90s, Taiwan had one
of the world’s worst urban waste problems. Its landfills overflowed and
mountains of rubbish clogged street corners, earning it the unflattering
moniker “Garbage Island.” Fed up with the
accumulation of waste, people across the country demanded action. They burned
trash in the streets and rallied at dumping sites. Over the next two decades,
the government over-hauled the waste management infrastructure of the island
from root to branch, investing in waste trucks and recycling plants and
switching from landfills to incineration.
New regulations compelled companies
and consumers to share the physical and financial burden of recycling and garbage
collection, establishing personal accountability and incentivizing people to
produce less waste in the first place. Yen-Chi Chang, 26, who
grew up along the east coast of Taiwan and now works in marketing, was born
just as the tides of trash were beginning to turn.
“When my parents were
in school, no one paid attention to the importance of recycling,” said Chang.
“[Now], we are told from an early age that we must recycle.” Today, Taiwan’s 55%
recycling rate is among the highest the world, up from virtually zero
three decades ago. For comparison, the
U.S. recycling rate is 34.7% and the
European Union’s is 46%. The average Taiwanese person produces 850
grams (1.9 pounds) of waste daily, down from 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) 15
years ago.
In the U.S., the average was 4.4 pounds per person per day in 2013.
This year, Taiwan committed
to banning all single-use plastics — including
bags, disposable cups, utensils and straws — by 2030.
As activists and
policymakers urgently seek solutions to stem the global tide of waste, Taiwan’s
recycling revolution demonstrates the vital role of an organized civil society
in forcing governments to prioritize responsible waste management. Moreover,
it’s a lesson in how wealth and urbanization can contribute to waste, but also
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