Graduate Institute of Bioresources, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung.
Waste Manag Res. 2021 May;39(5):713-719. doi: 10.1177/0734242X21996821. Epub 2021 Mar 21.
With the mass production and consumption of single-use plastics and other plastic products, plastic waste management and its resulting microplastic pollution have become the most noteworthy environmental issues. The main objectives of this paper were to review the regulatory measures for plastic waste reduction and recycling, analyse the trend changes on the recycled amounts of regulated plastic containers and also address the discussions on the impacts of COVID-19 on the expected increase in plastic waste. In the past two decades, the central competent authority (i.e. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA)) in Taiwan has promulgated some regulations governing plastic waste reduction and recycling, especially plastic containers. Based on the official statistics, it showed that total certified amounts of regulated plastic containers have increased from 45,552 tonnes in 1998 to 194,133 tonnes in 2019. This shift was in line with circular economy policies by the Zero Waste Program and Resource Recycling and Reuse Plan launched by the Taiwan EPA during this period. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic will impact on the regulatory policies for plastic waste management because the excess use of regulated plastic products will be temporarily permitted due to the epidemic prevention and control measures. Although the increased proportion of plastic waste in municipal solid waste (MSW) will be beneficial for the energy efficiencies of waste-to-power systems in MSW incineration plants, the recycling and reduction rates of regulated plastic containers or products could decline during the COVID-19 breakout.
随着一次性塑料和其他塑料制品的大规模生产和消费，塑料废物管理及其产生的微塑料污染已成为最值得关注的环境问题。本文的主要目的是回顾减少塑料废物和回收利用的监管措施，分析受管制塑料容器的回收数量的趋势变化，并讨论 COVID-19 对预计增加的塑料废物的影响。在过去的二十年中，台湾的中央主管机关（即环境保护署（EPA））颁布了一些关于减少塑料废物和回收利用的规定，特别是关于塑料容器的规定。根据官方统计，受管制塑料容器的认证总量从 1998 年的 45552 吨增加到 2019 年的 194133 吨。这一转变符合台湾 EPA 在这期间推出的零废弃计划和资源回收再利用计划的循环经济政策。另一方面，COVID-19 大流行将影响塑料废物管理的监管政策，因为由于防疫措施，受管制的塑料产品的过度使用将暂时被允许。尽管在城市固体废物（MSW）中增加塑料废物的比例将有利于 MSW 焚烧厂废物转化为能源的效率，但在 COVID-19 爆发期间，受管制塑料容器或产品的回收和减少率可能会下降。
