Taiwan pays the price for growth, in toxic pollution

Correspondence

Nature 408, 905 (21 December 2000) | doi:10.1038/35050266

Taiwan pays the price for growth, in toxic pollution

Govindasamy Agoramoorthy¹ & Minna J. Hsu²

1. Department of Wildlife Conservation, National Pingtung University of Science & Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan
2. Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Sir

The environmental damage induced by the growth of Taiwan's technological revolution was not covered in your recent Insight feature about this country¹. A century ago, British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace was impressed with Taiwan's natural beauty². But in the past few decades, this tiny island has evolved from agricultural backwater to global technological giant, leading to environmental disasters such as dangerously polluted rivers^3, 4.

In 1997, the government admitted that industry had produced 146,000 tons of hazardous waste³. Using recent data from 1,000 large industrial companies, the Environmental Protection Administration estimates that Taiwan produces more than 18 million tons of technological solid waste annually; 1.47 million tons of these are considered hazardous. Only 600,000 tons are treated — the rest ends up in rivers and landfills. About 50,000 tons of toxic solvents are produced annually, 35,000 tons by firms in Hsinchu, Taiwan's high-tech industrial centre, alone¹.

In July, 100 tons of toxic solvents were dumped into the country's second longest river, Kaoping, leaving 3 million residents (including us!) in and around Kaohsiung without drinking water for five days. In Taiwan's largest environmental criminal case to date, prosecutors alleged that the waste handler in the Kaoping affair dumped 14,000 tons of toxic solvents into river systems across the island. The government has discovered 160 illegal dump sites nationwide, of which the three most dangerous are near the river Kaoping. Furthermore, 100,000 barrels of toxic waste were recently discovered in central Taiwan, polluting the river Tatu. These examples of corporate greed are also the consequences of technological development.

Although mercury cell electrolysis was eliminated from the production line in 1989, Taiwan has accumulated mercury waste of about 100,000 tons, as estimated by the Industrial Development Bureau; an illegal mercury-tainted dump has recently been found in Hsinfeng town near Hsinchu. Taiwan currently has just one secure landfill, in Kaohsiung. It cannot handle all the toxic waste it produces, hence the government is seeking cash-starved countries that will dispose of it for a hefty fee. In a high-profile case last year, Cambodia returned 2,700 tons of Taiwan's mercury-laced waste after several deaths near the disposal site.

During the financial year 1999, Taiwan spent a large sum on national defence (20.5% of the national budget), science and education (15.8%), and economic development (13.5%), but environmental protection remained a low priority (1.5%)⁵.

Taiwan's technological miracle has taken place at the cost to our society of excessive toxic waste and pollution. The country now needs a profound reorientation in its attitude to the environment, with the help of the country's small but growing green movement. ad

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References

1.  Swinbanks, D. & Cyranoski, D. Nature 407, 415–426 (2000). | Article |
2.  Wallace, A. R. Island Life (Macmillan, London, 1880)
3.  1999 Republic of China Year Book (Government Information Office, Taipei, 1999).
4.  Hsu, M. J. & Agoramoorthy, G. Environ. Conserv. 25 288–289 (1998).
5. Republic of China budget for 1999 in Chinese,http://www.dgbasey.gov.tw/account; the 1998 budget in English athttp://www.dgbasey.gov.tw/english/dgbas_e3.htm.