On 21-22 October 2021, the EPA and approximately 40 people, including the representative of Viet Nam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei Nguyen Anh Dung, the representative of Belgian Office Taipei Frederic Verheyden, the representative of Turkish Trade Office in Taipei Muhammed Berdibek, the Director-General of Polish Office in Taipei Łukasz Lanski, the representative of Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre Swee Peng Sharon Ho, the deputy representative of Finland Trade Center in Taiwan Jere Tala, the Commercial Project Manager of Embassy of the Republic of Honduras Danny Ouyang, the Chairman of Circular Taiwan Network Charles Huang, as well as representatives of the industry, the EPA, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, and Council of Agriculture traveled to Tainan for a two-day  visit of the city’s circular economy facilities. The EPA arranged stops at enterprises with outstanding performance in the fields of “circular construction," “circular agriculture," and “circular plastics," to demonstrate the government’s achievements in promoting circular economy through the 5+2 Industrial Innovation Plan.   

This trip included stops at the Tainan City Cultural Heritage Building Material Bank, the Biotech Material Plant of Taiwan Sugar Corporation Biotechnology Business Division, Shalun Smart Green Energy Circular Residential Complex, and Zero Zero Environment-Friendly Scrap Vehicle Demolition Factory. Among them, the Tainan City Cultural Heritage Building Material Bank, which houses the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Tainan City Government, is the first of such places in Taiwan that repurpose old building materials such as wood, bricks, stones, and tiles generated or left during the dismantling or restoration of historical buildings and reuse them to revitalize the relics. 

The Biotech Material Plant of Taiwan Sugar Corporation Biotechnology Business Division, whose construction started in 2019, is the first of new productive “oyster shell processors” in Taiwan. It can process about 50,000 metric tons of oyster shells per year, producing oyster shell powder fertilizers and oyster shell powder feed products. In addition, to respond to the government’s promotion of the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, Taiwan Sugar Corporation has built the Tainan Shalun Smart Green Energy Circular Residential Complex, the first quality community in Taiwan that is located in both a green energy circulation network and a low carbon transportation network. And Zero Zero Environment-Friendly Scrap Vehicle Demolition Factory is a tourist factory with the theme of vehicle dismantling. It is a new environmental education site that integrates leisure, education, and on-site vehicle dismantling.

The EPA formally established the Office of Resource Circulation on 1 July 2021 to be in charge of overall resource circulation policy-making and management and be devoted to the promotion of turning combustible waste into energy, converting organic waste into bioenergy waste resource, and using inorganic waste in marine projects that promotes sustainable resource use. It is hoped that through this trip, both the local and foreign guests gained a better understanding of Taiwan’s efforts and achievements in promoting circular construction, circular agriculture, and circular plastics, so that multi-lateral industrial development and international cooperation can be promoted.

Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, November 2021