In 1993, Taiwan had a trash problem so severe that it was dubbed “Garbage Island”. The country collected only 70 per cent of its waste, while the rest was left to pollute the environment through littering or burning. More than three decades later, Taiwan has turned that crisis into one of the world’s most striking recycling transformations, with a nationwide recycling rate of 55 per cent. The change was driven not by one measure but by a system that made households, businesses and government share responsibility for waste. Residents were required to buy official bags for non-recyclable trash, manufacturers and importers helped fund recycling, and households had to sort their waste before collection. Even the trash trucks became part of daily life, with yellow vehicles playing classical music to signal their arrival. Together, these measures helped make recycling a routine part of life and dramatically reduced the amount of waste sent for disposal.
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