Taiwan releases results of recent crackdown on illegal VOC emissions

Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration on May 4 reported the results of the recent crackdown on illegal VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emissions on its official website.

According to the administration, it carried out special inspections in industries using large amounts of VOCs, including the PU synthetic leather, intaglio printing and spray/thermoset coating industries, from 2018 to 2020 and found four companies engaged in improper practices, such as bypassed emission and inappropriate treatment of volatile organic air pollutants.

Fines of as much as 51.3 million New Taiwan dollars (approximately 1.8 million USD) were imposed on the four violating companies in total. In addition, 421,930,000 New Taiwan dollars (approximately 15 million USD) of unpaid air pollution control fees (空氣污染防制費) will be collected. Twenty-eight employees of these firms were transferred to the prosecutor’s office for investigation and then punished. Furthermore, the administration demanded that those companies spend a total of 90 million New Taiwan dollars (approximately 3.2 million USD) to upgrade their air pollution control equipment. This upgrade would be expected to reduce emissions of volatile organic pollutants by about 851 tons.

The administration will continue to strengthen inspections in industries using large amounts of VOCs, carry out analyses using big data and AI and conduct comprehensive research in the target industries.

Note: In accordance with the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法), Taiwan has developed regulations such as the Volatile Organic Air Pollution Control and Emission Standards (揮發性有機物空氣污染管制及排放標準) and defined VOC emission limits and other measures. Companies that violate these regulations are subject to a fine of 100,000 to 20 million New Taiwan dollars (approximately 3,600 to 720,000 USD) and ordered to fix the issues within a designated period, under the Air Pollution Control Act. If a violator fails to correct its issues withing the designated period, a fine is imposed for each violation.

The full article (in traditional Chinese) is available at

https://enews.epa.gov.tw/Page/3B3C62C78849F32F/9bd9cd46-fdc5-4ae3-88ad-d42df2bc2dd9.