To encourage the public to report on unscrupulous businesses that purposefully evade their recycling, clearance and disposal fees, the EPA is offering reporters rewards worth up to 20% of the evaded fees pursued by the government. The EPA now offers multiple reporting channels such as a dedicated website and QR code.

According to Article 16 of the Waste Disposal Act, the manufacturers and importers responsible for recycling waste based on official announcement shall register with the competent authority, report their manufacturing/import volumes regularly, and pay the recycling, clearance and disposal fees accordingly. Roughly 30,000 responsible enterprises are registered at the moment. The EPA has found some enterprises that are required to register but have not registered, or have underreported their manufacturing/import volumes. To prevent underreporting and underpaying the recycling, clearance and disposal fees and ensure fair competition among industries, the EPA not only commissions accounting services to do annual audits but also encourages the public to report on unscrupulous businesses.

The EPA is giving rewards for public reports that contain detailed information and are further confirmed to be true. The rewards will be 20% of the evaded fees that are pursued by the government. Reports can be done through multiple channels, including fax, mail, in person, online (https://recycle.epa.gov.tw/), and QR code. The EPA has received 130 public reports in the past five years and has given out rewards totaling NT$3,300,000.

To disseminate the information regarding the responsibilities of enterprises that are required to pay recycling, clearance and disposal fees, the EPA has put out special reminders on the Recyclable Waste Volume Reporting System. Any person, either a business owner or an employee responsible for reporting the volume, who submits false reports knowingly or makes false records on business documents purposefully can be punished in accordance with Article 48 of the Waste Disposal Act and the Business Entity Accounting Act.

Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, Jan 2021