China News Agency, Taipei, November 30th. The Environmental Protection Bureau of the Taipei City Government announced that from December 1st, beverage stores in the city will not be allowed to provide disposable plastic drinking cups.
After communication and publicity, more than 90% of the stores in Taipei currently express that they can cooperate with the new city government.
Comprehensive United News Network, Zhongshi News Network and other Taiwanese media reported on the 30th that the Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau pointed out that the banned beverage cups include polylactic acid cups containing biodegradable plastic materials.
In June and August this year, the bureau has sent staff to the beverage stores under its jurisdiction to conduct publicity to ensure that the industry understands the content of the policy; in mid-November, it will publicize store by store.
According to interviews, more than 90% of the business owners said that they can cooperate with the implementation of the law from December 1.
Since 2002, Taiwan has required public agencies, private schools, department stores and other eight major industries to restrict the use of plastic disposable tableware. It has been more than 20 years since the catering industry switched to paper tableware.
In 2011, Taiwan promoted the policy of "Implementation of Disposable Take-Out Drink Cup Source Reduction and Recycling Incentives" to reward consumers for bringing their own drink cups.
On New Year's Day of 2019, the new "plastic restriction" system came into effect. Many restaurants in Taiwan no longer provide free plastic straws, and some even completely switch to paper straws.
In July this year, Taipei City implemented a preferential policy for four types of businesses to provide people with self-bred beverage cups to enjoy the price difference, giving consumers a greater incentive to bring their own beverage cups.
According to reports, starting from December 1, operators who violate this policy will be fined between 1,200 yuan (NT$, the same below) and 6,000 yuan according to law, and those who do not change within the time limit can be punished continuously on a daily basis.
In addition, the Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau also introduced that the new policy on recycling cups will be on the road on January 1, 2023.
The new system will regulate convenience store chains and fast food restaurant chains to have at least 5% of their outlets provide recycling cup borrowing services.
The administrative agency of the Taiwan authorities has formulated relevant normative guidelines.
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