2023 SDGs Asia:

Current Trends in Carbon Reduction and Recycling

Cindy Li　/　photos by Lin Min-hsuan　/　tr. by Brandon Yen

September 2023

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This year, the Northern Hemisphere experienced an exceptionally hot summer, with Europe, Asia, and North America sweltering under scorching heatwaves. To highlight the urgency of the climate crisis, UN secretary-general António Guterres has declared the arrival of the “era of global boiling.”

In response to cataclysmic changes in the global climate, countries around the world have introduced new laws and regulations. Taiwan is no exception. In March 2022 the Executive Yuan announced a plan for “Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050,” supplemented by 12 key strategies.

On February 15, 2023, President Tsai Ing-wen promulgated the Climate Change Response Act. Subsequently, in March, the Financial Supervisory Commission launched the Sustainable Development Action Plans for TWSE- and TPEx-Listed Companies, which stipulate that all listed companies should publish sustainability reports by 2025.

Eugene Chien, ROC ambassador at large and chairman of the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy, says that “these two years represent the most crucial period for Taiwan.”

Eugene Chien, chairman of the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy, is a long-standing champion of sustainable development.

Climate change legislation

Among the new climate-related laws and regulations, Chien draws our attention specifically to the Climate Change Response Act. He says that although this law doesn’t seem to include many provisions, “it has an incredibly powerful impact and will potentially alter Taiwan in fundamental ways.” This great wave of change in Taiwan is actually generated by pressures from around the world.

Published earlier this year, the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is spurring into action businesses that had not previously calculated their embedded carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Chien emphasizes that green tariffs like this reflect universal values and global approaches to managing climate change. Is Taiwan ready to take part? To answer the question, let’s take a look at the 2023 SDGs Asia Exhibition, held at the Taipei World Trade Center on July 21–23 to showcase approaches to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Electric buses in colors inspired by the flag of Paraguay represent Master Transportation’s first venture into South American markets. (courtesy of Master Transportation)

Alexander Tah-ray Yui (left), Taiwan’s vice minister of foreign affairs, test-rides an electric bus with Paraguay’s new president, Santiago Peña Palacios (center), who at the time was president-elect. (courtesy of Master Transportation)

Electric vehicles

One of the eye-catchers at the SDGs Asia Exhibition is a full-sized bus brought out by Master Transportation. This is not only the first electric bus to be designed, developed, and produced in Taiwan but also a cutting-edge instrument for cultivating diplomatic relations.

Wu Zhong-xi, general manager at Master, plays a video that shows Santiago Peña Palacios, then president-elect and now president of Paraguay, on one of the company’s electric buses, the livery of which is in colors inspired by the Paraguayan flag. Wu says that a turnkey factory will be set up in the South American country to produce the buses locally.

Wu observes that as Paraguay is a member state of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), this export plan will serve as a perfect springboard for Taiwan’s electric buses to gain a foothold in South American markets.

Master has also set its sights on other parts of the world. The fact that the bus on display at the exhibition is a right-hand-drive vehicle indicates the company’s imminent entry into the Japanese market. Wu tells us that Master’s electric bus is one of the main vehicles to be used for transporting visitors at the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.

Scientists at Taiwan’s CPC Corporation have successfully integrated the processes of carbon capture and recycling to convert CO2 captured from factories into methanol.

Carbon capture

Alongside carbon reduction, carbon capture has been a popular topic in recent years.

Technologies of carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) are methods for the separation and trapping of CO2 from emissions that result from the combustion of fossil fuels or other industrial processes. The captured carbon can either be converted into products of economic value or permanently deposited underground.

Across the world, the technology of carbon storage is primarily used by oil and gas companies. Allen Huang, research engineer at the Exploration and Development Research Institute of Taiwan’s CPC Corporation, explains that the process involves injecting CO2 underground and storing it there. Experienced in the extraction of petroleum, CPC has already acquired a comprehensive grasp of this technology.

However, due to limited investment, CCUS is not being practiced on a large scale in Taiwan. In fact, what is needed is only a final push. The booth run by the National Science and Technology Council at the SDGs Asia Exhibition showcases the work of the Carbon Storage and Geothermal Research Center at National Central University. The NCU team has conducted research on Taiwan’s West Coast, developing new technologies to identify suitable sites for future carbon storage. Also featured at the booth is a project carried out by a team in the Department of Chemistry at National Taiwan University. It investigates as-yet-uncommercialized negative emissions technologies for CO2 recycling, and has successfully developed energy-efficient conversion devices with high conversion rates.

Longchen Paper has been developing technologies to utilize resources efficiently, aiming to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

All of Longchen Paper’s exhibits are made from its own eco-friendly cardboard, including the sea turtle above the visitors.

Green papermaking

Longchen Paper is the first example that springs to Eugene Chien’s lips when he speaks of the firms that impress him most among the exhibiting companies. The papermaking industry, Chien tells us, used to be considered synonymous with environmental pollution, but it has since made significant progress.

In 2003 Longchen decided to focus solely on producing paper for industrial use. William Lin, who supervises Longchen’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, says that sustainability was a factor that contributed to this move. Nearly two decades on, the company’s products are made from 99% recycled paper, and its carbon emissions have been reduced as well. With the production of each metric ton of its recycled paper now generating some 0.63 tons of CO2, Longchen is one of the greenest papermakers in Taiwan.

While papermaking companies have been criticized for using enormous amounts of water, Longchen is committed to the recycling of “white water” (water that drains from wet pulp) so that every drop of its wastewater can be reused up to 26 times. As well as reclaiming water from the production process, the company collects rainwater in order to reduce the amount of freshwater it uses. Moreover, Longchen now harnesses the biogas produced from the anaerobic treatment of wastewater, which was previously transported offsite to be burned in a power plant, to generate its own electricity.

William Lin says that even though the net-zero policies introduced in the last two years by the Taiwanese government have put more pressure on Longchen, this national drive for carbon reduction signals new opportunities for the company.

Yi Chun Green Technology displays materials recycled from decomposed diapers, attracting a great deal of attention. The company won a Green Design Silver Award at the 2023 SDGs Asia Exhibition. (courtesy of SDGs Asia Exhibition)

Thanks to Yi Chun’s patented technology, used diapers can be turned into eco-friendly materials for new industrial purposes.

Recycling diapers

With the population aging, care homes across Taiwan consume a profusion of incontinence products every day. Disposable adult diapers account for 70–80% of their daily waste.

While soiled diapers may appear to be of no economic value, Jennifer Shen, vice president of sales at Yi Chun Green Technology, tells us that her company has developed a patented technology to clean and decompose them. The recycled materials can then be supplied to factories to be made into a wide range of products, including cardboard, park benches, superabsorbent polymers for agricultural use, and cat litter.

Faced with the tremendous urgency of sustainable development, Eugene Chien believes that Taiwan’s private-sector enterprises have cleared the first hurdle, though the new initiatives—which taken together may alter our civilization for good—have a long way to go if we are to reach net zero in 2050.