On 26 December 2022 an award ceremony was held by the EPA to acknowledge support and endeavors of government offices and private organizations in green procurement. It was also the first time that government agencies and private organizations with excellent performances were jointly honored. Awardees included 36 government agencies and 213 private corporations that had outstanding performance in green procurement in 2021, green shops with continuous excellent performances up till 2021, organizations that have obtained the Green Mark for 20 years consecutively, and enterprises in the service industry certified with the Green Mark in 2021.

The EPA began promulgating the Green Mark system in 1992, implementing green procurement in the public sector in 2002, and extending its efforts to private enterprises in 2007. Years of promotion and endeavors have resulted in NT$11.1 billion of green procurement in the public sector in 2021, a NT$800-million increase from 2020. Green procurement and consumption have reached NT$50.3 billion for private enterprises and organizations as well as NT$58.7 billion for the general public. Combining the results in the public sector, the total expense on green procurement amounted to NT$120.2 billion in 2021, an increase of 4% compared to the amount in 2020.

Green procurement in 2021 resulted in conserving 25.7 million KWH of electricity, equivalent to 500,000 households’ power usage for a month; cutting down 104,346 metric tons of carbon emissions, same as the amount of carbon absorbed by trees in 282 Daan Forest Parks during a year; and lowered use of virgin pulp by 11.68 million kilograms, equivalent to sparing 233,405 trees. All have contributed to protecting the environments.

Among the awardees this year, there were 121 private companies and organizations whose expenses on green procurement exceeded NT$50 million each, a record high. For example, combined amount registered of Chong Hwa Pulp Corporation and another ten companies reaches over NT$1 billion. And 20 enterprises, including Taisyou International Business Co., were honored for increasing options of environment-friendly products and expanding their scope of green procurement with their continuous applications and support of the Green Mark and manufacturing of quality green products. Not only so, a total of 18 green stores, including E-Life Mall, received the award for their long-term efforts in promoting green products under categories of electronics, retails, construction materials, and bathroom equipment, which has greatly helped the public to put green consumption into practice.

Moreover, the EPA has been actively promoting green service, so the ceremony honored enterprises in the service industry that became certified with the Green Mark within the past year, 54 in total, to generate more exposure and raise public awareness of the Green Mark in the service industry. Statistics show that there are 124 enterprises in the service industry with Green Mark certifications to date, and 101 of them are hotels. Such is the evidence of local consumers’ strong acknowledgement and support for environment-friendly service, which will help expand the market of green consumption.

Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, December 2022