Comprehensive Review of Food Waste Generation and Disposal Capacity Across Taiwan: The Six Special Municipalities
Text by Upstream and Downstream reporters Duan Ya-xin, Liu Yi-xin, Cai Jia-shan
To prevent an outbreak of African swine fever, the Council of Agriculture announced strict inspections of food waste pig farming. Those who fail to meet the high-temperature cooking requirements, as well as those who have not obtained the "re-inspection and reuse" qualification from the Environmental Protection Administration, must stop using food waste to raise pigs. Once a domestic outbreak occurs, food waste pig farming will be completely banned.
Taiwan produces approximately 1 million metric tons of cooked food waste each year. Looking at individual counties and cities, how much food waste is there in each area? How is it disposed of? If food waste pig farming is completely banned, how will the environmental protection agencies of each county and city respond? What are the detailed supporting measures? Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung said in a recent interview that all localities are accelerating their inventories and will submit plans to the Environmental Protection Administration.
If African swine fever breaks out tomorrow, food waste will immediately become a battlefield. Are all localities prepared? Upstream and Downstream contacted local environmental protection bureaus to obtain frontline information. This article reviews the six special municipalities. For the review of other major pig-farming counties including Pingtung and Yunlin, please click here to read. (Other counties and cities are still being reviewed and will be published continuously.)
(Background note: The following food waste recycling figures are official statistics, but many food waste pig farmers say that the official statistics on food waste are not accurate, because food waste has long been "under-reported" during the recycling process. Private operators drive small trucks loaded with food waste bins and collect from various places, mostly households, snack shops and night markets, which may not be included in the statistics. Readers are advised to take this into consideration.)
1. Taipei City: 111 metric tons of food waste in total, sent to its own composting sites and private composting sites in other counties and cities
Li Min-hao of the Waste Treatment Management Section of the Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau said that for cooked food waste, the declared amount from regulated business entities is 62 metric tons per day. For unregulated ones, the preliminary estimate is about 38 metric tons. Adding these together gives 100 metric tons. Combined with 11 metric tons of household food waste, the total is 111 metric tons.
Li Min-hao said that if Taipei City's cooked food waste is not used for pig farming, it will first be sent for composting, and secondly for incineration. The composting sites expected to receive it include Taipei City's own public composting sites and private composting sites in other counties and cities. Taipei City currently has three incineration plants, each with its own composting site. In the past, these were used for raw food waste composting, and in the future they can also handle cooked food waste.
In the past, Taipei City commissioned private composting sites in Pingtung and Yunlin to handle compostable food waste (raw food waste), about 50-60 metric tons. Previously, this food waste was transported out without dehydration. If pig-farming food waste (cooked food waste) is to be added in the future, both raw and cooked food waste will need to be dehydrated, reducing the volume to one-third, before being transported out.
But if in the future each county and city's composting sites must prioritize their own food waste and can no longer accommodate Taipei City's food waste, what then? Li said this would depend on the situation at that time. The composting sites in other counties and cities that Taipei City cooperates with are private composting sites, not public ones.
The Environmental Protection Administration recently stated that it will plan guidance measures for large food waste generators, hoping to guide businesses producing more than one metric ton of food waste per day (for example, Din Tai Fung, Costco) to install their own food waste treatment equipment. However, Din Tai Fung said it has not yet received relevant information and will look into it further.
2. New Taipei City: About 200-250 metric tons of cooked food waste per day, to be handled under central command in the future
New Taipei City produces 200 metric tons of compostable food waste (raw food waste) per day. Since there are no composting sites within its territory, most of it is taken over by composting operators in central and southern Taiwan through bidding. At the same time, the amount of pig-farming food waste (cooked food waste) collected daily by cleaning crews is as much as 100 metric tons. In addition, 100-150 metric tons of food waste circulates in the market. In the past, almost all of this food waste was absorbed by food waste pig farmers in New Taipei and Taoyuan.
Sun Chung-wei, spokesperson for the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau, said that New Taipei City is indeed conducting scenario planning for various possible situations and drafting various response measures, but cannot provide detailed explanations at this time. However, if African swine fever invades Taiwan, the whole of Taiwan will enter an epidemic prevention combat phase, and all county and city governments must accept the command and supervision of the central government. At that time, New Taipei City will also comply.
3. Taoyuan: About 150 metric tons of cooked food waste; biomass energy to be launched in 2021, with composting and incineration during the transition period
According to statistics from the Taoyuan City Government Environmental Protection Bureau, Taoyuan City's average daily household food waste is 82 metric tons, of which 98.8% is pig-farming food waste and 1.2% is compostable food waste. The average daily business food waste is 68 metric tons, of which 90.3% is pig-farming food waste and the remaining 9.7% is used for other reuse purposes such as fertilizer.
If food waste pig farming is completely banned, how should the food waste be disposed of? The Environmental Protection Bureau responded that the Taoyuan City Biomass Energy Center BOT project has already been tendered and contracted, and is expected to officially begin operations before July of Republic of China year 110 (2021), and can convert food waste into power generation energy. Lu Ming-chi, Senior Technical Specialist of the Environmental Protection Bureau, further explained that the biomass energy center is estimated to be able to process 250 metric tons of food waste per day, regardless of whether it is raw or cooked food waste. Compared with Taoyuan City's current daily cooked food waste of 150 metric tons, the biomass energy center can fully handle it in the future.
But before the biomass energy center begins operations, how should short-term food waste disposal be resolved? The Environmental Protection Bureau pointed out that during the transition period, methods such as rapid composting and fermentation, landfill, incineration, or food waste pulping can be used. Currently, there are two incineration institutions and two composting and reuse institutions in the Taoyuan area.
However, the Taoyuan City Environmental Protection Bureau emphasized that the choice of disposal method, in addition to considering costs, must also take into account site location, related supporting implementation and other multi-faceted factors. The city government is currently evaluating the feasibility of various plans. Lu Ming-chi explained that Taoyuan City currently has two small public composting sites. If cooked food waste composting is adopted, they can process about five metric tons per day. The remaining private composting sites all handle agricultural waste and do not accept cooked food waste.
If cooked food waste composting can only process five metric tons per day, how will they face 150 metric tons of food waste per day in the future? Lu explained that the plans have short-, medium- and long-term phases. The central government is taking inventory of national composting site capacity to meet the demand for cooked food waste composting, and Taoyuan City can use composting sites in other counties and cities.
Regarding concerns that cooked food waste is heavy in oil and salt and difficult to use as compost, Lu said that dehydrating food waste can separate salt and grease. Although it cannot reach 100%, at least 50-70% can be removed. As for the odor problem of cooked food waste composting, the Environmental Protection Bureau responded that during the maturation process, turning or stirring is necessary, which inevitably causes some odor to escape. Therefore, in addition to considering the site conditions of the composting facility, composting technology must also be considered, such as traditional high-efficiency or rapid fermentation methods, to reduce odor generation.
As for restaurant operators, who originally could make money by selling food waste but now must pay to send it for composting, can they cooperate? The Environmental Protection Bureau stated that restaurants, snack shops, etc. already have the obligation to properly dispose of their waste. Once the central government announces a ban on food waste pig farming, food waste generated by the food and beverage industry should be commissioned to qualified clearing and disposal (reuse) institutions for incineration or composting.
4. Taichung City: If food waste pig farming is banned, there will be 192 metric tons of cooked food waste, mainly for incineration
Chen Hsiu-ling, Section Chief of the Waste Management Section of the Taichung City Environmental Protection Bureau, said that Taichung City's total daily food waste recycling is about 126 metric tons, with about 96 metric tons of cooked food waste from curbside collection of households and snack shops, and about 30 metric tons of raw food waste. Raw food waste is sent for composting, while cooked food waste is given to pig farmers to feed pigs. Taichung City has five composting sites within its territory. Because cooked food waste treatment produces odors that residents find objectionable, they only handle raw food waste disposal. A specialist surnamed Huang from the Environmental Protection Bureau said that currently, the 30 metric tons of raw food waste processing capacity is already nearly saturated.
After the ban on food waste pig farming, how should the cooked food waste recycling operations be adjusted? Chen Hsiu-ling said that based on estimates from Taichung City's pig farmers, cooked food waste recycling volume will roughly double to 192 metric tons. The city currently plans to seek funding from the central government to purchase additional collection vehicles and food waste bins, and the detailed figures are still being calculated.
In addition, to solve the food waste problem, Taichung City built the country's first biomass energy plant in Waipu. Huang Jia-wen, a specialist of the Waste Management Section, said that it was originally established to address the near-saturation of raw food waste processing. However, with the current emergence of the cooked food waste disposal problem, the city is now studying whether the plant's equipment can handle cooked food waste. If pre-treatment equipment for oil extraction and decontamination is purchased, cooked food waste should be able to be disposed of through the biomass energy plant.
The Waipu Biomass Energy Plant is currently undergoing phase one construction, capable of processing 80 metric tons of food waste per day. After phase two construction is completed in the future, the plant's total food waste disposal capacity can reach 160 metric tons per day. It is planned to begin operations in June of this year.
Special articles:
- The Battle Against Epidemic and Food Waste 01"A Close Look at Food Waste Pig Farming: Pig Farmers Say "This Is Our Life and Property, We Are More Afraid of Getting Infected Than Anyone"
- The Battle Against Epidemic and Food Waste 02"Civil War Among Pig Farmers: Food Waste Pig Farming Is High-Risk and Outdated VS Food Waste Can Be Finely Sorted After High-Temperature Cooking
- The Battle Against Epidemic and Food Waste 03"Expert Opinion: If You Want to Use Food Waste, You Must Do It 100%, Otherwise Leave the Industry! Separating Food Waste With and Without Meat Reduces Risk
- The Battle Against Epidemic and Food Waste 04"Food Waste Ban Rushed Through, Environmental Protection Administration Alarmed: "Swine Fever Hasn't Even Arrived Yet, and the Country Is Already in Chaos"
- The Battle Against Epidemic and Food Waste 05"Opportunities and Challenges of Composting! Local Food Waste Can Be Composted in a Decentralized Way, Even Daan Forest Park Can Do It
- The Battle Against Epidemic and Food Waste 06"Comprehensive Review of Food Waste Generation and Disposal Capacity Across Taiwan (Six Special Municipalities)
- The Battle Against Epidemic and Food Waste 07"Comprehensive Review of Food Waste Generation and Disposal Capacity Across Taiwan (Yunlin and Pingtung)
- The Battle Against Epidemic and Food Waste 08"Pingtung Has Something to Say: Food Waste Ban Impacts the Black Pig Industry Chain, Non-Food-Waste Feed Also Needs Attention