(28 Sep 2018) LEADIN
Residents in Taiwan are getting an extra incentive to recycle their garbage - money.
The city of Tapiei has installed a smart recycling centre that refunds cash to a user's transport card when they recycle empty bottles and cans.
STORYLINE
This is an iTrash booth in Taipei City and it's a prototype service that lets people earn money from recycling their cans and bottles.
The initiative seeks to promote recycling while also giving residents more flexibility in how they dispose of their household garbage.
People living in the San-Ai Borough, can visit the 24 hour booth anytime to dispose of their waste and to also receive credit for doing it.
For every recyclable bottle or can, a user gets money back on their EasyCard, a smart card Taipei people use to ride on the MRT (Mass Rapid Transportation).
Huang, a 45-year-old woman living in the neighborhood, who is using the iTrash booth for the first time, welcomes the new service.
"It is very near to my house. I can collect cash on my EasyCard, and contribute to the protection of environment, so I think it is quite convenient. By doing this, I contribute to save our Earth, and I am reimbursed with cash on my EasyCard. I think this is really convenient," she says.
The iTrash booth takes both kitchen wastes and recyclables. With EasyCards, people pay to throw away kitchen waste, and they get refunds for recycling.
With little space for landfills and limited incineration options, crowded Taiwan has for decades required strict separation of paper, plastic, metal and kitchen scraps.
However, many residents must haul their waste to garbage trucks that circulate twice a day and keep the trash at home if they miss the trucks.
The developer plans to build iTrash booths around Taipei City, if this prototype is successful.
Jewel Liu, Vice-General manager at Hao-Yang Environmental Science Ltd, which makes iTrash booths says: "One single booth collects around 200 kilogram of waste. We intend to create around 10,000 iTrash booths around Taipei, so that every Taipei citizen could recycle at the machines. By then, the services provided by iTrash could be more complete and be part of Taipei City's smartcity ideals."
Hsu, a 38-year-old electrical engineer living in the neighborhood, also welcomes the initiative.
"I think it is very convenient. For example, I leave work after 8pm or 9pm, and garbage collecting trucks are all gone at that time. But I can come here anytime I want, and I collect cash for my EasyCard. It is also easy to use."
Lee Wei-bin, Taipei City Government's Department of Information Technology Commissioner says: "People can arrange their life as they wish. They do not have to wait for the garbage truck at a certain hour in the evening near their home, otherwise throwing garbage away has to wait for another day (if they miss the garbage truck). Then about recycling. If a community management is in charge, then it is okay. But what if there is not? So iTrash can also help with recycling. And users get directly refunded with cash on their EasyCard. People can be in full control of their schedule, and they do not have to worry about storing garbage in their house."
Lee says the feedback is positive, and that borough chiefs and city councillors are asking him to build more of the booths in their districts.
Chen Jen-chih, the San-Ai Borough chief who owns a Chinese medicine pharmacy, says the service is positive because it is boosting people's awareness on environmental protection.
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