Waste Management Policies and Implications: Case Study of Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Abstract

This paper examines two waste management schemes, per-bag charge and mandatory recycling, implemented in two different cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung, respectively, of Taiwan, to assess their impacts on household waste reduction efforts. In addition, we also include a national-wide plastic bag regulation introduced in 2003,which bans retail stores offering free plastic bags, in our estimations. Our analyses suggest that with the presence of the per-bag policy, households tend to reduce their waste generation, and meanwhile increase the recycling volume; specifically, waste reduction is about 26.4% and recycling increases 68%. Mandatory recycling, on the other hand, has induced recycling by 38.6%, while it is not significant in reducing mixed waste generation. Moreover, plastic bag regulation has negative effects on both waste generation and recycling.