In the face of the severe challenges posed by global climate change, the frequency of extreme weather events continues to rise, and the nature of disasters has shifted toward more destructive, compound forms. How to quickly and effectively handle the massive surge of waste generated immediately after disasters has become an indispensable element of “resilience” within the national disaster prevention system.

The Environmental Management Administration (EMA) convened on Jan. 22 the “Second Expert Consultation Meeting on Learning from International Disaster Management Experience and National Disaster Waste Management Guidelines (Draft)” at the Ministry of Environment (MOENV). The meeting was chaired by Director-General Yen Hsu-ming and brought together experts and scholars, including Chang Tsu-en and Chu Hsin, along with representatives from relevant units of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Environment, and local environmental protection agencies, to jointly review and strengthen Taiwan’s disaster waste management framework.

The discussion focused on reviewing two core draft documents developed by the EMA: the “Disaster Waste Management Guidelines” and the “Disaster Waste Temporary Storage Site Safety Guidelines.” A key consensus was to comprehensively draw on Japan’s mature experience developed after the Great Hanshin Earthquake and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Going forward, Taiwan will introduce a tiered operation mechanism for temporary storage sites, distinguishing primary temporary storage sites to facilitate rapid clearance of emergency response routes, and secondary sites with ample space for detailed sorting and resource recovery, thereby significantly improving post-disaster waste transport efficiency and disposal speed.

More importantly, the new guidelines will place special emphasis on disaster safety design for temporary storage sites, incorporating critical planning measures to prevent the spread of fires and avoid secondary pollution from leachate, ensuring both the quality and safety of post-disaster environmental remediation.

The EMA emphasized that management thinking must shift from the traditional approach of “removal and disposal” to a more forward-looking model of “resilience management.” The meeting established four key directions for future efforts: the formal release of the new guidelines; incorporation of related preparedness requirements into the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act; requiring local governments to proactively inventory public land, schools, and parks as potential temporary storage sites; and actively integrating the disaster response capacity of volunteer organizations and other civil groups. Through public-private collaboration, the aim is to accelerate environmental cleanup and waste disposal, and to jointly build a safe, efficient, and sustainable resilient system for disaster waste management.