Taiwan to end food-waste incineration by end of 2027

Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Environment (MOENV) on Friday announced that the nation will stop incinerating food waste by the end of 2027, preferring to use environmentally friendly methods such as composting or converting to biomass instead.

The MOENV made the announcement at a press conference on Friday to elaborate on a plan approved by the Cabinet on Thursday to phase out the use of food waste in pig farming by Dec. 31, 2026.

The plan will also pave the way for a full ban starting in 2027 as part of efforts to prevent African swine fever.

Under the plan presented by Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and the MOENV during the Thursday meeting, 2026 will serve as the transition year.

At the Friday presser, Deputy Minister of Environment Shen Chih-hsiu (沈志修) explained that during the transition year, most food waste will be collected and then recycled.

The recycling of food waste includes repurposing it into materials such as compost and biomass.

According to Lin Tso-hsiang (林左祥), the deputy director-general of the MOENV's Environmental Management Administration, about 1,384 metric tons of food waste would need to be processed daily for recycling and repurposing during the transition year.

Taiwan's current food waste facilities could handle 1,100 tons out of the average 1,384 tons every day, with approximately 284 tons sent to Taiwan's 25 incinerators or buried in the ground.

Lin said facilities will increase their processing capacity by 620 tons during the transition year, while the amount of food waste sent to incinerators or buried will remain the same.

Lin added that the government plans to further increase the capacity of food waste processing facilities to 1,720 tons by the end of 2026 and increase the amount of food waste sent to incinerators or buried to 395 tons.

However, with future plans to boost the capacity of food waste recycling and repurposing facilities to 2,119 tons by the end of 2027, food waste production will break even with Taiwan's ability to process food waste and end sending food waste to incinerators, Lin said.

With plans to continue sending food waste to incinerators up to the end of 2027, Lin added that the government will strengthen management of incinerators and bolster inspection of dioxin emission at such facilities.

Besides boosting Taiwan's ability to recycle and repurpose food waste, Lin also said that the decrease in food waste is equally important.