The EPA held a ceremony on 30 September 2020 to recognize enterprises and organizations that successfully promoted green procurement and green consumption in 2019. As many as 106 private sector entities were recognized. They included 20 entities that have supported the Green Mark system for 20 years, organizations that registered over NT$50 million in green procurement in 2019 and green stores with excellent performances in 2019.

To encourage all citizens to practice green consumption, the EPA has since 1992 promoted the Green Mark to make it easier for consumers to identify green products. Currently, there are over 4,700 products with valid Green Mark certification in the market. In addition, since green procurement was one of the focuses of the EPA’s green consumption promotion, the EPA has also been pushing private enterprises and organizations since 2007 to practice and register green procurement. After years of promotion, the 2019 expenditure of private enterprises and organizations on green procurement reached NT$34 billion, with a total of 2,326 private entities having registered the spending. Both the spending and the number of the registered private entities reached record highs. Moreover, in an effort to make it more convenient for consumers to practice green consumption, the EPA has also been promoting the Green Store system since 2008 to encourage the public to buy green products. In 2019, the sales of green products in Taiwan amounted to NT$55.8 billion.

Implementations of the above policies rely on the support and efforts from the private sector. For instance, Taiwan Green Device Co. and Chen Chi Electro-Chemical Co. have continuously applied for and supported the Green Mark for 20 years and have been manufacturing high-quality green products. Other companies, such as Chung Hwa Pulp Corporation, Far Eastern New Century, and Uni-President, have also been practicing green procurement for years.

In addition, green stores like Fuji Xerox (Taiwan), Tatung Consumer Products (Taiwan) Hwashia branch in Kaohsiung, and ELife Mall Digital City Mintsu branch have been actively promoting green products, raising the public’s awareness of environment-friendly products and creating a market for green consumption.

Excerpt from Environmental Policy Monthly, 23 (10)