The Environmental Protection Administration unveiled a proposal on January 9 to use solid waste in land reclamation projects to solve the problem of garbage disposal and create new coastline in Taiwan.
The land reclamation plan is designed to provide ultimate disposal for waste not suitable for burning, including incinerator bottom ash and construction remains, according to the EPA.
Taiwan generates between 3.8 million and 7 million cubic meters of such waste each year, but current landfills will be full in two to three years, the agency said.
The situation has led to illegal dumping in the last year in Kaohsiung, New Taipei City, Taichung and Taoyuan, according to EPA Minister Shen Shu-hung.
The land reclamation proposal, drawing on the experience of Japan and Singapore, would ease pressure on waste disposal processes while increasing Taiwan’s shoreline, Shen said during an interagency meeting, joined by officials from Taiwan’s international harbor administrations in Hualien, Kaohsiung, Keelung and Taichung, as well as the subordinate seaports of Anping, Su-ao, Taipei and Yungan.
Academia Sinica researcher Cheng Ming-hsiu, a coral expert, opposed the idea, however, arguing that the project risks contaminating ocean waters and destroying marine biodiversity, given the ocean currents around Taiwan and its frequent typhoons.
Huang Huan-chang, chairman of Tainan Community University and an environmental activist, said, “For land reclamation with trash to be safe, the waste must be free of toxic materials, and this can only be accomplished through a thorough treatment process supported by close monitoring and strong enforcement measures.”
A better way to tackle the illegal dumping of incinerator bottom ash, he said, would be to readjust local industry policies and reduce waste at its origins.
The EPA stressed that the land reclamation project would be carried out in such a way as to ensure the waste would be stabilized both physically and chemically, detoxified, properly tested and sorted to avoid environmental harm.
The proposal would require Cabinet approval for implementation, the EPA added.
