The amount of garbage accumulated in Nantou County exceeded 320,000 metric tons, and the resource recovery rate ranked 9th in the country.

There is a large amount of garbage piled up in the Nantou City landfill, so the company uses fog cannons to spray hypochlorous acid water to deodorize it. (Provided by Nantou City Office)

Nantou County has a serious garbage accumulation problem. According to a report from the Nantou County Audit Office of the Audit Department, as of the end of 2025, the cumulative amount of temporary garbage in Nantou County has exceeded 320,000 metric tons. Although the Environmental Protection Bureau budgeted a budget of more than 611.45 million yuan to promote waste treatment last year, the average daily garbage generated per person last year was 1.35 kilograms, a record high in the past five years.

The report pointed out that since 2004, in Nantou County, since there is no incineration plant in the county, garbage from various towns, towns and cities has been concentrated at transfer stations and then transported to other counties and cities for incineration. However, in recent years, incineration plants in various counties and cities have insufficient processing capacity due to outdated equipment, reduced efficiency, and shutdowns for maintenance. As a result, the amount of garbage incinerated in Nantou has been declining year by year since 2008, making Nantou's garbage accumulation crisis increasingly serious.

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In terms of waste reduction, Nantou County’s general waste generation last year was 231,658 metric tons. Although the total volume was reduced compared with the previous two years, the average daily waste generation per person was 1.35 kilograms, a record high in the past five years. In terms of resource recycling, although the resource recycling rate in Nantou County increased to 55.2% last year, showing a year-on-year growth trend, it is still lower than the national average, indicating that there is still room for improvement in source classification and recycling promotion.

The Nantou County Environmental Protection Bureau responded that from 2021 to 2025, the garbage removal volume in Nantou County dropped from 96,464 metric tons to 94,510 metric tons, a decrease of 1,954 metric tons. During the same period, the amount of resource recovery increased from 106,796 metric tons to 127,970 metric tons, an increase of 21,174 metric tons, an increase of approximately 19.8%. The resource recovery rate also increased from 50.4% to 55.2%, an increase of 4.8 percentage points. Currently, Nantou’s resource recovery rate ranks 9th in the country, and non-Liudu counties and cities rank 4th.

The Environmental Protection Bureau emphasized that since the calculation of garbage generation is the sum of garbage removal volume, resource recycling volume and food waste recycling volume, although the volume of garbage collection in Nantou has decreased in the past five years, the overall waste generation volume has still increased due to the increase in resource recycling volume.

The cumulative amount of temporarily disposed garbage in Nantou County has exceeded 320,000 metric tons. (Provided by Nantou County Government)

The Nantou County Environmental Protection Bureau stated that Nantou County’s resource recovery rate ranks ninth in the country. (Provided by Nantou County Government)