The Department of Environmental Protection of the Taoyuan City Government (TYDEP) held the closing ceremony of the “Green Shopping Festival” and a recognition ceremony for excellent demonstration of net-zero green living on December 12 at the B2 Auditorium of Taoyuan City Hall. Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-Tsan personally presented a total of 12 awards, including Outstanding Green Procurement Enterprises, National Enterprise Environmental Protection Awards, National Environmental Education Awards, Green Outstanding Shop Awards, Carbon Footprint Label Certified Units, Green Label Hotels, Green Business Hotels, Green Restaurants, Outstanding Environmental Protection Group Buy Stations, Environmental Education Professional Lecture Teams, Enterprise River Adoption, and Inter-School Competition on Resource Recycling, together recognizing a total of 203 organizations and entities. Mayor Cheng thanked and acknowledged all the companies and organizations that have contributed to green consumption, environmental education, and environmental sustainability over the years, drawing the city’s most popular green consumption event, the “2022 Taoyuan Green Shopping Festival”, to a fruitful conclusion.
In his speech at the awards ceremony, Mayor Cheng pointed out that green consumption is one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and he hoped that the promotion of green consumption would encourage businesses to practice responsible production and consumption, which in turn would change people’s consumption concepts and establish green living habits for all people, gradually taking root in their daily lives. Through the concerted efforts of enterprises and organizations in Taoyuan, the total amount of private enterprise green procurement has doubled from NT$1.95 billion in 2015 to NT$6.72 billion in 2021. The rising figures indicate that the awareness of green consumption is on the rise, and more and more enterprises are willing prioritize environmentally friendly green products in their procurement processes.
Mayor Cheng further pointed out that in order to promote green procurement in Taoyuan, the TYDEP has been actively counseling private enterprises and organizations within its jurisdiction to implement green procurement practices, with the total amount of green procurement reaching NT$6.72 billion. In 2021, a total of 64 high-performing private enterprises were recognized, including 12 enterprises with procurement amounts reaching over NT$100 million. These include: Cheng Loong Corporation Tayuan Mill, Shinkong Synthetic Fibers, Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Yangmei Plant, See Box Corporation, Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Xinwu Plant, TSMC Packaging Plant No. 3, Kimberly-Clark Taiwan, Taiwan Scott Paper Corporation, HeySong Corporation, Senao Networks, TAI-TECH Advanced Electronics, and Cheng Loong Corporation Tayuan Mill, all of which exhibited outstanding overall performance. In addition, 10 local enterprises in Taoyuan received the National Enterprise Environmental Protection Award, which represents the highest national environmental protection honor in Taiwan, and China Airlines received the highest honor of the Grand Award. Merck Technology Taoyuan Plant won the Gold Award, Micron Technology Taiwan, Inc. Plant 2, and Benq Materials won the Silver Award, 4 companies won the Bronze Award (Xintec Zhongli Plant 3, Win Semiconductors ECOVE Solvent Recycling, and Fullon Hotel Taoyuan), and 2 companies were awarded the Finalist Award (Chroma ATE and Fullon Hotel Linkou) in appreciation of their contribution and dedication to environmental protection.
In addition, Hocheng Corporation (HCG), White Horse Ceramics, Costco Taoyuan Store, and TR Plus Pingzhen Store were awarded the Green Store Award in recognition of their efforts in actively promoting the sale of environmentally friendly products in the city and creating a market for green consumption. In line with the trend of net-zero carbon emissions, Fullon Hotel Taoyuan and Happiness Farm have obtained the carbon footprint label certification, demonstrating their commitment to implement energy saving and carbon reduction to reduce the burden on the environment. In line with the trend of green tourism, a number of hotel operators in Taoyuan City have obtained the certification of the Green Label, with Fullon Hotel Jhongli, Fullon Hotel Taoyuan and Hotel COZZI Taoyuan receiving the Silver Grade Green Hotel Certification, and five other hotel operators joining the Green Hotel to respond to environmental protection measures. In line with the EPA’s promotion of green restaurants, a total of 29 establishments became green restaurants this year, achieving the goal of cherishing food and reducing waste. In 2022, the total sales amount of green merchandise in group buy stations reached more than NT$2.41 million, among which, the sales amount of Zhentou Village in Dayuan District reached NT$566,000, which is the highest in the city. This is followed by Ruide Village in Bade District at NT$501,000 and Longxiang Village in Taoyuan District at NT$187,000, which ranked second and third respectively, indicating fruitful results.
Director-General Lu Li-Teh of the TYDEP emphasized that in response to the promotion of environmental education, two entities were awarded the National Environmental Education Award, namely, A Mini Cathay Co., Ltd. with Outstanding Awards and Taiwan Wetland Restoration Society with Excellent Awards. In order to promote environmental education to take root, Taoyuan City has created the first professional environmental education awareness group in the country this year, which has toured 93 schools and conducted 1,000 sessions this year, teaching more than 23,600 students. Apart from actively promoting sustainable development, local enterprises in Taoyuan City have also shown a high degree of concern for environmental protection and have taken concrete actions to participate in water environment protection. In 2021, a total of 54 companies enthusiastically participated and 67 water patrol teams were engaged in river patrol work, during which 404 activities such as education and promotion of the water environment were held and 6,049 inspections and cleanups were conducted, with an impressive 62 tons of waste cleaned up. Among them, CMC Motor’s Yangmei Plant, Micron Technology Taiwan, Denso Taiwan Corp, Everlight Chemical Industrial Plant 2 were awarded the highest honor, the “High Distinction Award” for their contribution and protection of the river. We also hope that more local companies will respond together to expand our water protection network.
For the fifth year in a row, an inter-school resource recycling competition was held to promote recycling in schools in the city and to promote the concept of recycling among students through the close collaboration of teachers and students in environmental education. A total of 13 colleges and universities and 27 high schools received awards this year. The first place winner in the college group was Chung Yuan Christian University, and the first place winner in the high school group was Ta Hwa Senior High School in Taoyuan City. Through the inter-school competition on resource recycling, students can participate and pay attention to current environmental issues, fostering the development of environmentally literate citizens, enhance students’ sense of responsibility for self-management of the learning environment, and implement the promotion of environmental protection in campus life.
The TYDEP has noted that Taoyuan City is actively assisting the industry within its jurisdiction to promote green procurement by private enterprises and organizations, hoping to combine the power of government agencies and the private sector to jointly promote green procurement and environmental sustainability, and to attract more industry players to participate through public recognition, to establish the correct concept of sustainability, and to care for the earth through green consumption.