TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Plastic bottles have emerged as the dominant form of pollution on Taiwan's coastlines, according to findings released Thursday (July 17) by RE-THINK (重新思考環境教育協會), an environmental education association focused on waste reduction. The organization's comprehensive beach cleanup effort documented 8,249 waste items collected from 59 beaches across the island nation. The yearlong survey ending this April revealed food packaging materials constituted 2,356 items of the total waste recovered.
Plastic bottles constituted an overwhelming 67% of the collected waste materials, with glass bottles and metal cans following at 14.8% and 5.4% respectively. Taiwan's northern coastal areas — encompassing New Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Yilan counties — showed particularly concerning levels with plastic bottles exceeding 50% of all waste. Approximately 20% of collected items originated from foreign sources carried by ocean currents. RE-THINK officials emphasized the critical need for improved public recycling habits, noting that improper waste disposal can trigger fines between NT$1,200 to NT$6,000 (approximately US$41 to US$204) under Taiwan's Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法).
The environmental group plans to expand its cleanup campaign beginning Saturday (July 19), targeting nine isolated beaches and including, for the first time, Matsu (馬祖), an outlying island chain administered by Taiwan. Environmental advocates expressed particular concern about the 1,313 discarded energy drink containers discovered during the survey. RE-THINK introduced what they call a "fatigue index" (疲累指數) to measure societal stress levels reflected in waste patterns, noting additional concern that most energy drinks come in non-recyclable glass bottles. ◼ (At time of reporting, US$1 equals approximately NT$29.4)