Speech by the Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau

Speech by Councilor Chen Yi-Jun

　Nantou County’s Puli Township is Taiwan’s largest producer of water bamboo by area; according to statistics from the Executive Yuan’s Council of Agriculture, approximately 1,500 hectares of the county is used for planting water bamboo. The resulting amount of agricultural waste is massive. In the past, farmers either burned it, or left it on the side of the road, causing air pollution and environmental issues. With the concept of circular economy in mind, the Nantou County Environmental Protection Bureau has specially invited domestic experts and scholars to conduct research and experiments on turning agricultural waste into resources with plenty of added value.

　In order to allow farmers to dispose of agricultural waste in a better way, the Nantou County Environmental Protection Bureau has cooperated with local expert and scholar, Mr. Chen Ku-Fan from National Chi Nan University, in the hopes of turning water bamboo into a resource of circular value. On October 15th, 2021, Mr. Chen held the “Biochar Stove Demonstration and Promotion Event” at the Puli Farmer’s Association, explain the production principles of the biochar stove and methods for recycling agricultural waste. The National Chi Nan University team demonstrated the biochar stove for the farmers, giving them a basic understanding of the biochar stove’s functions and benefits: not only does it improve the soil pH and thus increase the yield of water bamboo, but it also reduces issues of burning agricultural waste outdoors. During this event, Puli Township Mayor Liao Zhi-Cheng and County Councilor Chen Yi-Jun, who care very much about agricultural development and the environment, both attended the event, and spoke with farmers about water bamboo. They hope that agricultural recycling can be put into action by directly transforming the leftovers from water bamboo production into biochar, and returning it to the farmland, eliminating spending on cleaning and transportation or purchasing additional fertilizers.

　The Nantou Environmental Protection Bureau would like to once again remind people that burning agricultural waste outdoors produces a large amount of smoke (PM2.5). In addition to affecting air quality and road safety, it may also directly affect the health of those burning the waste and the health of nearby residents. If people are found to be burning waste outdoors, they will be punished with a fine between NTD $1,200 to NTD $100,000. If the public has discovered others burning waste outdoors, they can directly report the violation to the Environmental Protection Bureau’s Public Nuisance Petition Hotline at (049) 223-4685 or (049) 222-3763, and the Environmental Protection Bureau will send personnel to assist in handling the violations.