The road to environmental participatory governance in Taiwan: collaboration and challenges in incineration and municipal waste management

Abstract

Waste management has been a problem for Taiwanese society over the past two decades due to rapid economic growth and urbanisation. The building of incinerators, however, has stimulated controversies and social discontent over the impacts of incineration on both environmental and human health. In Beitou, a district in the capital city of Taiwan, not-in-my-backyard activism was launched against the building of an incinerator, but the community later promoted the idea of a ‘zero-waste city’ and played a role in the decision by Taipei's government. Using in-depth qualitative interview methods to interview local community actors, and green society members to understand the dynamics between actors, this research discusses these changes and employs the participatory governance approach to networks among residents of the local community and other actors. This paper also concludes that there has been a power shift in state–citizen relationships at the local level, deepening and consolidating democratic politics in Taiwan.

Keywords:

• Taiwan
• incinerator
• municipal waste
• environmental governance
• participation

Acknowledgements

I owe special thanks to Lawrence Ho, three anonymous reviewers, and the editors of the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management for comments and suggestions about this study. I am responsible for all errors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. ‘Zero Waste City’ advocates that the city should reduce the volume of waste to zero through the 3Rs (recycle, reduce, and reuse), while reclamation and incineration are not recommended.

2. Tungtai Declaration was a declaration for founding TAIA in September 2002. The declaration appeals the growth of toxic ash from incineration and hazards to Taiwan. About TAIA, Taiwan Watch <http://www.taiwanwatch.org.tw/issue/waste/about_taia.html>. Accessed on 26 January 2013.

3. Interview with Mr Wang, the convenor of Qili'an Environmental Voluntary Group (QLEVG) in Taipei on 23 July. Also mentioned in Ko (2006a), see reference 3, page 52.

4. The Taiwanese government implemented economic compensation to placate local communities where incinerators were built. Compensation agreements were mainly generated by the Central government and have been standardised in each case. Compensation without a mechanism for negotiation between the incinerator developer and stakeholders is problematic; the government should seek support from local politicians and governments to proceed with the building of incinerators (see reference 84, Hsu (2006), page 455).

5. The policy of Taipei--Keelung Municipal Waste Cooperation aimed for a mutual solution between the two cities to the problem of municipal solid waste. Taipei City burns the waste of Keelung City; then Keelung City, in turn, must manage the incinerator ash from Taipei City. This policy has increased the environmental burden on Keelung City and highlighted the problem of inequality. For further information, mutual agreement on Taipei--Keelung Municipal Waste Solution has been confirmed, and will be implemented in September, Nownews (2003), “Mutual agreement on Taipei--Keelung municipal waste solution has been confirmed and will be implemented in September”, accessed 5 September 2013; http://www.nownews.com/2003/07/22/330-1486784.htm.