Consumers would not be given a NT$5 rebate for bringing plastic, cardboard or polystyrene foam cups to use for takeaway beverages, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.

The agency earlier this month began implementing a policy that is aimed at reducing the use of disposable cups by making a price difference of at least NT$5 mandatory for drinks served in cups provided by consumers and those served in cups offered by the place of purchase.

The policy applies to takeaway beverage purchases at convenience stores, fast-food restaurants, supermarkets and tea shops.

Photo: Chen Hsien-yi, Taipei Times

The rules governing the use of single-use takeaway beverage cups stipulate that disposable cups are those made of petrochemical-based plastics, bio-based plastics and biodegradable plastics, the agency said.

Cups provided by consumers should be reusable and conform to the Sanitation Standards for Food Utensils, Containers and Packages (食品器具容器包裝衛生標準), which state that plastic food containers and packages should not be recycled for reuse, it said.

Businesses should not give consumers a NT$5 rebate if the cups they bring are made of plastic, polystyrene foam or cardboard, the agency said.

Approximately 4 billion disposable cups were used in 2020, statistics from EPA Recycling Fund Management Board showed.

Although the EPA in 2011 required businesses to give consumers a NT$1 to NT$3 rebate for bringing their own cups, only 6 percent of consumers actually did it, the agency said.

The percentage of consumers bringing their own cups rose to 30 percent after a NT$5 rebate was offered, which helped reduce the use of disposable cups by 5.8 billion units and decrease trash by 7,000 tonnes, the agency said.

Reducing the use of plastic has become urgent as the UN is to enforce a global plastic pollution treaty in 2024, the agency said.

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