Taiwan was at one time dubbed a "garbage island" as trash filled its streets. But with the help of musical trucks, the country has been able to transform into a global recycling leader.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00ECHOING THROUGH THE STREETS OF TAIPEI, BEETHOVEN'S FUR RELEASE IS A CALL TO ACTION TO RUSH OUTSIDE
00:10AND THROW OUT THE TRASH.
00:13EVERY DAY EXCEPT WEDNESDAYS AND SUNDAYS, LINES OF PEOPLE WAIT BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD DURING
00:18THEIR DESIGNATED TIME SLOT, HOLDING TRASH BAGS.
00:22KNOWN FOR ITS PUNCTUALITY, THE GARBAGE TRUCK WAITS FOR NO ONE.
00:26If something happens suddenly, I'll go after the garbage truck.
00:30If it's too late, I'll do it.
00:33I'll try to get to it, but if I can't, what can I do?
00:37FOR SOME RESIDENTS, IT'S FRUSTRATING TO PLAN THEIR LIVES AROUND THE RUBBISH REMOVAL SYSTEM.
00:42BUT FOR OTHERS, IT'S FOSTERED A SENSE OF COMMUNITY, AS NEIGHBORS ARE GIVEN A CHANCE TO CATCH UP.
00:49BUT TAIWAN WASN'T ALWAYS SO METICULOUS ABOUT ITS WASTE MANAGEMENT.
00:53After an economic boom in the 1960s, its streets became strewn with litter.
01:00And by 1995, most of the country's landfills reached capacity, earning it the nickname
01:06Garbage Island.
01:07Taipei and Taiwan would just sort of pile up trash in certain designated zones, and
01:11then when a typhoon would come, it would just spray the trash everywhere.
01:16WITH RUBBISH PILES CREATING A TERRIBLE STENCH AND ATTRACTING PESTS, A COMMUNITY ACTIVIST
01:21CAMPAIGN PUSHED FOR GOVERNMENT ACTION.
01:24AND IN 1998, A WASTE DISPOSAL ACT WAS IMPLEMENTED, INTRODUCING A RECYCLING SYSTEM THAT INCLUDED
01:32THE SINGING TRUCKS.
01:34THE LAW ALSO ESTABLISHED LEGAL PENALTIES FOR IMPROPER GARBAGE DISPOSAL, TAXED BUSINESSES,
01:40AND INTRODUCED EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND COLOUR-CODED BINS TO ENCOURAGE RESIDENTS TO SEPARATE THEIR
01:46WASTE.
01:47A FEW YEARS AFTER THAT, THE GOVERNMENT TOLD RESIDENTS THEY NEED TO BUY THESE BAGS TO THROW
01:52AWAY WASTE THEY COULDN'T RECYCLE.
01:54THE FUNDS RAISED TO BE USED IN WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITIES.
01:58IT ENCOURAGED RESIDENTS TO BE MORE CONSCIOUS OF HOW MUCH WASTE THEY WERE THROWING AWAY,
02:03AND AN INCENTIVE TO RECYCLE.
02:06BUT SOME PEOPLE TRIED TO CHEAT THE SYSTEM, USING PUBLIC BINS TO THROW OUT THEIR TRASH,
02:11LEADING TO THE GOVERNMENT REMOVING MOST OF THOSE BINS.
02:15DESPITE THAT, TAIWAN'S RECYCLING RATE HAS GROWN ASTRONOMICALLY IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF
02:19TIME, FROM 1% IN 1998 TO NOW ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT OVER 55%.
02:27THE STREETS OF TAIPEI ARE NOW LARGELY FREE FROM LITTER, A SIGN FOR PEOPLE HERE THAT THE
02:33SYSTEM HAS WORKED, AND A FRAMEWORK THAT WASTE RESEARCHERS HOPE OTHER COUNTRIES WILL ADAPT
02:39TO REDUCE WASTE AND INCREASE RECYCLING.
02:42PATRICK CHEN AND ROSIE GRENINGER FOR TAIWAN PLUS.