Taiwan

Taiwan achieved impressive industrial growth from the late 1970’s. In 1987 a Waste Exchange Information Centre (WEIC) was set up to promote waste exchange initiatives in Taiwan. It provides free services to the industrial sector as well as to academic and educational institutions. The Centre registers by-product and waste streams from industries, and actively searches for potential applications in other industries. It also provides technical assistance with regard to overcoming technical constraints for recovery, for example as a result of impurities or product testing where by-products have been utilised. So far, WEIC registered more then 1,600 sources of waste (Su et al. 1999) of which approximately 18% could be successfully exchanged. This recovered in total just over 215,000 tonnes of industrial waste, and generated revenue of approximately U$ 55 million (Chao 1999; Hu et al. 2001).

Based on the experiences of the Waste Exchange Information Centre, the Corporate Synergy Systems (CSS) was initiated in 1995 as an integrated approach to industrial waste minimisation and by-product synergies. CSS was defined as an environmental management system through which a large central firm is working together with several satellite firms to achieve industrial waste minimisation goals (Tang et al. 1999).

In 1999 the Taiwan Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) established an eco-industrial park pilot program on two sites, the Taiwan Technology and Industrial Park and Chang Hua Coastal Industrial Park (Chao 1999; Hu et al. 2001). The latest available information dates includes a rough schematic of the resource exchanges considered and/or implemented in Chang Hua, including co-firing of tyres and other industrial wastes in a combined heat and power station; waste heat recovery from waste incinerator; plastics recycling facility; and possibly use of metal (copper) sludge and fly-ash in cement and glass manufacture.

Documented Synergies in Taiwan

The following regional synergy examples are documented in this database:

By-Product Synergies

• Food Waste Used in Livestock Feed
• Metal Manufacturer Suppling Lubricant to Construction Industry
• Reuse of By-Product Acids
• Use of Fly Ash in Road Construction

Utility Synergies

• information not yet available

More Information

More information about regional synergies in Taiwan can be found on:

• Chao, C. (1999) "Promotion and Development of Industrial Eco-Systems in Taiwan", Global Competiveness through Cleaner Production (2nd Asia Pacific Roundtable on Cleaner Production), Brisbane, Australia, Australia Cleaner Production Association
• Hu, H. and Chong, L. (2001) "Fulfilling Taiwan’s Aspiration of Becoming the 'Green Silicon Island' through Industrial Ecology", The Science and Culture of Industrial Ecology (1st International Society for Industrial Ecology Conference), Leiden, The Netherlands, International Society for Industrial Ecology
• Tang, Y., Tseng, R., Chiu, S., et al. (1999) "Promotion of Industrial Waste Minimisation through Corporate Synergy Systems in Taiwan", Global Competitiveness through Cleaner Production (2nd Asia Pacific Roundtable on Cleaner Production), Brisbane, Australia, Australia Cleaner Production Association
• van Berkel, R. (2006) "Regional Resource Synergies for Sustainable Development in Heavy Industrial Areas: An Overview of Opportunities and Experiences", Report for Australian Research Council, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia

Please Tell Us About Other Synergies or Incorrect Information

We would be interested to learn from other case study examples that could be added to this database:

• submit synergy examples
• if you believe any information to be incorrect, please submit a correction
• general feedback and enquiries

This webpage was last modified on 16 February 2007.

Disclaimer: The synergy information is provided for general use and although we believe all data to be correct, CSRP can accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the information. All presented case-study examples are retrieved from publicly available resources.