Department of International Cooperation

[Photo: National Cheng Kung University]

More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in our oceans every year, about 500 billion plastic bags are produced every year around the world... We can actually change the end of plastic products and bring them new lives.

In July 2019, under the invitation and arrangement of the International Cooperation Department of MOEA, Taiwan, Piotr Kubica, a consultant of the Waste Management and Recycling Cluster (WMRC), and Jerzy Lis, Vice-Rector of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Poland, led representatives of the industry and academia to Taiwan. They exchanges waste plastic product recycling technology with ITRI and Taiwanese company, Enrestec.

In 2018, ITRI collaborated with Lite-On Technology to regenerate waste plastics into 3C product outlay such as keyboards and mice, so as to replace waste plastics with new life through cross-border cooperation.

Enrestec, the world's first commercial operation of a chemical cracking plant for processing waste tires, Taiwan's waste tire processing capacity reached 15,000 tons in 2018, converting waste tires into 5,500 tons of reusable environmentally friendly black carbon. In 2019, Enrestec cooperated with the factory in Thailand of SHEICO group, the world’s largest wetsuit manufacturer, to produce EU-certified non-toxic black carbon wetsuit.

In 2016, Adidas launched the world's first pair of shoes made of waste plastic. It was designed and made by the ocean recycling yarn developed from the ocean waste in the Far East New Century, the former Taiwan's first bottle manufacturer. It can be named one of the best examples of international cooperation in the field of circular economy.