Environmental Management Administration

Currently, Taiwan’s incineration facilities for municipal waste have an annual processing capacity of approximately 6.89 million metric tons. In addition to processing about 4.9 million metric tons of general waste annually, they assist in processing industrial waste, providing legal disposal channels and reducing the risk of illegal dumping.

As most domestic waste incineration plants have operated for over 20 years, upgrades and improved pollution control technologies are necessary to enhance equipment efficiency and maintain air quality. The administration initiated the national incineration plant upgrade and overhaul plan, and by the end of 2025, upgrade projects had been launched at 17 incineration plants nationwide. The primary focus is restoring and maintaining stable incineration capacity, while also improving air pollution control, increasing power generation efficiency, strengthening energy conservation and carbon reduction, and promoting ash and slag reduction. These efforts help extend plant service life and enhances processing efficiency so municipal waste can continue to be treated. At plants that have completed upgrades, processing efficiency has increased by 11%, and power generation has increased by 20%.

Additionally, for counties and cities lacking self-sufficient waste treatment facilities, the administration assists in establishing and strengthening facility capacity. By the end of 2025, national municipal waste incineration facilities had increased to 29 (including the aforementioned 24 plants). With four new plants in Taoyuan, Hualien, Taitung, and Hsinchu County operational, supplemented by increased capacity from the Mailiao plant replacement in Yunlin, total national processing capacity reached 6.89 million metric tons annually. The Tainan Chengxi replacement furnace is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, bringing national waste processing capacity to an estimated 7 million tons. This significantly strengthens local processing autonomy and enhances national waste treatment resilience.