Waste has always been a part of our industrial development and history. Here my report about a traditional business in Taiwan or a bit of end-of-the-world feeling:
You see them less and less often in my community — the private garbage collectors. They are often elderly or disabled people who go around with bags or carts, collecting recyclables to sell later to recycling companies. Most often, in the evenings when the garbage truck comes, they ask residents if they can have their recyclables. Metals are especially valuable, but they also gather tin cans, some plastic bottles, and paper. They can be rather indiscriminate, taking anything that isn’t locked down — including unlocked bicycles or even dogs’ water bowls. They tend to “assume” the owner’s consent in a very flexible way. During the day, they go to individual factories.
You’ll usually find the recycling depots they sell to located further out of town. Due to the circumstances, but often also due to ignorant management, recycling companies are notorious for frequent, toxic fires. For larger quantities, you can drive there directly. If it’s a lot, the car is weighed with and without the waste to simplify billing. Often, the waste is simply lying out in the open.
I have the impression in my neighborhood that the small, shabby recycling companies are shutting down and the old waste collectors are disappearing – although personal observations are, of course, not statistically reliable. In the end, all companies face the same problem: lower profits, labor-intensive work, rising costs, and a decreasing number of elderly people without income.
Verification is not so straightforward, but there do seem to be some contradictory factors when it comes to, for example, paper containers for food, such as:
- The use of paper containers for food increased during the COVID pandemic, as people used more paper containers for deliveries and restaurants were closed.
- The profit margin for recycling certain products is low, meaning costs aren’t covered.
- Subsidies have been cut.
- Official figures on paper recycling are questioned – they may be embellished, and not all manufacturers report their data.
This post does not deal with the recycling of high-value products, as different products and values are involved there.
Here, I take the example of a company in Tongluo and refer partly to Google Maps history:
In 2011, trucks were parked in front of the large company that is still operating today. In the back area, some light construction can be seen to protect the waste from rain. From 2015 onward, the area in front of the main building becomes heavily littered, with a lot of earth debris piled up. It still operates, the backyard is full of recyclable trash. Today, there is still a calendar from 2016 hanging in the building. The condition worsens until 2019 – the area becomes impassable, operations stopped. In March 2021, the fence was destroyed, but by August 2022 it had been re-erected. Currently, everything is easily accessible, the rear construction is gone, and the large storage area has disappeared.
In photos from 2015 to 2019, the name 延生石興業有限公司 is shown, but no names can be found in commercial registers – even dissolved companies usually remain listed for a while. They were apparently specialized in construction waste (CLSM, concrete), but household waste is also found inside. This explains the massive piles behind the company.
As is often the case, there appear to be ownership issues. According to a public notice at the entrance, posted after July 2023, a house number was added. The construction authority appears to be investigating.
Next door is a company involved in timber harvesting. In 2011, large trees are lying there, everything is tidy and appears to be in operation. But there is no address, no company sign. From 2013 onward, vegetation takes over, nothing changes, operations seem to have stopped, and only the trees continue to spread. When I visited in 2025, there were people inside. This industry does not enjoy a good reputation, as the origin of the timber is often unclear. Illegal logging is a major problem in Taiwan.
(Copyright Claudius Petzold)
