Environmental Management Administration

Since 2017, 24 domestic incinerators have entered a renovation period, resulting in a portion of garbage needing to enter landfills for treatment each year. Although sanitary landfilling is one of the legal treatment methods, most counties and cities consider temporary storage to be only a transitional period and still expect incineration treatment as soon as possible; leveling and soil covering operations are not performed immediately on incoming garbage, leading to temporary garbage storage situations over the long term.

To this end, Premier Cho Jung-tai of the Executive Yuan presided over the 3924th Cabinet Meeting on Oct. 24, which resolved to achieve the goal of proper disposal of exposed garbage by the end of 2026. Starting from 2024, the Ministry of Environment (MOENV) expects to invest NT$1.2 billion over three years to fully assist local governments, strengthening various measures such as landfill soil covering, screening and bundling, disaster prevention and smart monitoring, and AI-driven data governance to assist local governments. Furthermore, on Jan. 9, 2025 environmental protection bureau and department directors from counties and cities with exposed garbage piles were invited to swear an oath and sign a declaration of cooperation, aiming to achieve the goal by the end of 2026. According to statistics as of the end of December 2024, the nationwide temporary storage volume in exposed garbage landfills has decreased from 840,000 metric tons in 2023 to 750,000 metric tons. The primary counties and cities are Pingtung County, Hsinchu County, Nantou County, Taoyuan City, and Yunlin County.

To resolve the proper disposal of exposed garbage on schedule and properly, current progress is as follows:

Based on the Executive Yuan-approved "Promotion Plan for High-Quality Public Restrooms and Beautiful Environments"(2019 to 2024), local governments are subsidized to construct and repair public restrooms, elevating the environmental quality of public restrooms and establishing a safe, comfortable, and dignified toileting environment. As of the end of 2024, a cumulative total of 4,290 public restrooms have been subsidized for new construction and repair, reaching the target of 4,000. In 2025, the Executive Yuan-approved "Beautiful Environment Promotion Plan" (2025 to 2030) will be promoted to continue driving the replacement and repair of old public restrooms and assist local governments with environmental recovery capabilities after natural disasters. A "Record of Results in Promoting High-quality Public Restrooms" has been produced and placed on the administration's website in the hope that by sharing high-quality public restrooms, more public and private entities will respond by jointly creating a high-quality, friendly toileting environment that leaves no one behind.

On Aug. 6, 2024, the "Gender-friendly Toilet Doubling Action Plan" was issued. Through strategies such as "installing standard equipment," "expert consultation," "gender-friendly toilet signage," "incorporating gender-friendly toilets into outstanding public restroom evaluations," "defining gender-friendly toilets," "advocacy, seminars, and observation," "incorporating into local performance evaluations," and "subsidizing local construction or repair," the target of increasing from 623 toilets in 2024 to 1,246 toilets by 2029 will be achieved. This implements the national sustainable development goals SDG 5 Gender Equality, SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation, and SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities. The 2024 Outstanding Public Restroom Evaluation has already included the gender-friendly public restroom award. The 2025 local performance evaluation indicators will incorporate the promotion status of gender-friendly toilets.

In response to Taiwan's aging population and the needs of people with disabilities, there are plans to revise the "Guidelines for the Supervision of Public Restroom Construction and Repair Projects." In the construction or repair design stage, the installation of ostomy cleaning equipment and the addition of washbasins next to toilets should be considered for accessible restroom stalls to facilitate immediate handwashing for users with ostomies and people with disabilities after accidentally becoming soiled.

To create a high-quality tourism and living environment for Taiwan, combining "civic engagement," "incorporating local characteristics (wind, soil, water, sunlight, and local environment, etc.)," and "creating demonstration sites," the "Promotion Plan for Distinctive Public Restrooms" was formulated. On Dec. 11, 2024, experts and scholars were invited for consultation and discussion; on Dec. 25, 2024, local governments were invited for deliberation and discussion. On Jan. 6, 2025, the plan was issued to all county and city governments, prioritizing promotion and installation in areas with large numbers of tourists, parks, indigenous settlements, and transportation transfer zones. Subsidies are conducted through competitive evaluation, and advocacy sessions are progressively held with local governments to explain distinctive public restroom subsidy matters and share case studies.

To make public restroom management more efficient, the "Promotion Plan for Using the Internet of Things to Enhance Public Restroom Environmental Quality" (Bill) was formulated. On Jan. 23, 2025, local governments were invited for deliberation and discussion; on April 7, 2025, the plan was issued to all county and city governments. The "Common Supply Contract for Public Restroom IoT Communication Mainboards and Sensor Modules" (Bill) was drafted, and a specification group composed of various local environmental protection agencies and external experts and scholars was invited to review the specifications, moving toward smart public restrooms.

To enhance the quality of the public restroom environment, as toileting quality is also related to the habits of public restroom users, advocacy for toileting culture will be strengthened to change user habits. The discussed strategies are as follows:

In 2024, feedback on toilet use was collected via QR code scanning; statistical results showed an overall average evaluation of 4.63 points (out of 5), indicating general satisfaction with public restroom quality in Taiwan, and 6,455 out of 12,768 opinions included expressions of thanks to cleaning personnel. The administration will continue to introduce smart public restroom management models to improve management efficiency.

The 2024 public restroom user satisfaction survey had 2,025 valid samples, with an overall satisfaction rate of 90.1%.

Statistics at the end of 2024 showed 45,072 regulated public restrooms; following evaluations by local governments, 43,839 (97%) were rated as Superior. Local environmental protection units inspected public restrooms 389,547 times, and management units were notified to make improvements immediately upon discovery of issues.

A public restroom mystery user project was conducted in 2024, inviting experts and scholars to perform spot checks on public restrooms across counties and cities. On-site supervision results showed that public restroom management and maintenance provided friendly facilities for public use; a few restrooms had issues such as damp stalls or missing QR codes, all of which have been notified to management units with improvements completed.

In 2025, the introduction of scientific diagnostic technology for public restrooms will be evaluated, with at least 40 demonstration sessions of public restroom diagnostics.