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Trash Sorting Guide
In our previous column ↓↓↓ we shared all the tips on how to throw away your trash!
https://www.papago-taiwanheya.com/column/detail/73
This time, as a follow-up, we’re going to show you how to sort your trash!
As shown in the illustration, trash in Taiwan is sorted into three types. There are a lot of details, so we’ve picked out just the parts you’ll likely need. In English, it looks like this:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| General Trash | Paper scraps, toilet paper, diapers, underwear, socks, stuffed toys, disposable chopsticks, etc. |
| Non-Burnable / Recyclables | Pots and pans, supermarket bags, meat trays, milk cartons, bottles, cans, PET bottles, phones, cameras, batteries, magazines, newspapers, etc. |
| Bulky Trash | Refrigerators, TVs, microwaves, washing machines, dryers, etc. (Call the collection service 清潔隊 in advance for pickup.) |
| Food Waste - For Livestock | Partially eaten biscuits or bread, leftover bento meals, soups, etc. |
| Food Waste - For Fertilizer | Vegetable and fruit cores, fish bones, fruit seeds, etc. |
To simplify things, trash in Taiwan is generally sorted into four types of bags:
-
General Trash
-
Non-Burnable Trash
-
Food Waste for Livestock
-
Food Waste for Fertilizer
The sorting isn’t too complicated, so it’s pretty easy! The only tricky part for foreigners might be bulky trash, which requires a phone call. Everything else is straightforward.
Here’s an important point to remember: only General Trash must go into government-designated garbage bags.
For recyclables and food waste, you can use ordinary garbage bags from supermarkets or drugstores. Government-designated bags are much more expensive, so putting recyclables or food waste in them isn’t cost-effective. Of course, the collection service will still pick up your trash even if you use a government bag, so if you’re not worried about the extra cost, that’s fine too.
