30 Oct 2013 Last updated at 08:07:26 GMT
 
TAIPEI (Scrap Monster) : The environmental activists across the country has voiced strong protests against the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) proposal to exclude scrap metal from its definition of hazardous industrial waste in Taiwan.

The EPA had earlier proposed to amend the Standards for Defining Hazardous Industrial Waste by excluding 12 different categories of scrap metal including wires, computers, household electronics, telecom products and printed circuit boards. The EPA proposed to categorize the above into general industrial waste.

Redefining the various scrap metals as general industrial waste opens the doors of import of these products into the country. Environmental groups urged the government not to go ahead with the amendment. They called for continued ban on the import of wires and electronic devices, as these may lead to environmental pollution.

However, EPA is of the view that import of scrap metals would boost the country’s recycling industry.

Author: Paul Ploumis