Taiwan announces amendments to regulations on fines for illegal waste disposal 
Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration on March 18, 2021 announced amendments to the Regulations of Fine Determination for Violations of Waste Disposal Act. Here are the main changes:
Fine increase for listed and over-the-counter companies
In cases where the competent authority considers the funds of a penalty receiver, the fine may be 10 to 20 times the normal amount if the violator of the Waste Disposal Act belongs to a listed company or over-the-counter (OTC) company (上櫃事業) (Article 2, Paragraph 2).
Fine increase for particular types of illegal disposal
- For cases where a person or an entity illegally dumps general industrial waste on farmland or in an environmentally sensitive area*, which is classified as a “serious violation” (嚴重違規), the base amount of the fine has been increased from 6,000 New Taiwan dollars (approximately 210 USD) to 60,000 New Taiwan dollars (approximately 2,100 USD).
- For cases where a person or an entity illegally dumps hazardous industrial waste on farmland or in an environmentally sensitive area, which is classified as a “serious violation”, the base amount of the fine has been increased from 60,000 New Taiwan dollars (approximately 2,100 USD) to 300,000 New Taiwan dollars (approximately 11,000 USD).
*An environmentally sensitive area (環境敏感地區) is an area that has special value for humans and is extremely susceptible to inappropriate development and other factors.
Addition of new illegal-dumping-prone waste types
Ten new items have been added to the list of illegal-dumping-prone waste types in the note section of appendices (e.g. waste oil mixture, waste wood mixture and waste plastic mixture).
The full text of the amended act (in traditional Chinese) is available at
https://law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=O0050090
