Accused of Causing Rat Infestation by Accumulating Food Waste, Taipei City Refutes Allegations as Distorting Facts

(Central News Agency reporter Yang Shu-min, Taipei, May 5th) New Taipei City Councilor Lin Bing-yao uploaded an illustrated post on Facebook, pointing out that Taipei City only incinerates food waste after accumulating a certain amount, suspecting it to be the root cause of rat infestations. The Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau today stated that household food waste, after collection, is entirely processed at incinerators for crushing and dewatering, with no temporary storage, and that the aerial photos were also misinterpreted, calling the accusation a distortion of facts.

Lin Bing-yao stated on Facebook that in response to African swine fever prevention, the feeding of food waste to pigs was completely banned. Taipei City seemed to accumulate a certain amount before incinerating it separately, which was very likely the root cause of rat infestations.

He also uploaded aerial photos of the Beitou Incinerator from 2023 to 2026 as evidence, claiming that since January 1, 2026, pig farming was stopped, and household food waste from across the city surged into this location awaiting crushing and dewatering, leading to a sharp increase in temporary storage, thus providing food for rats.

In response, the Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau stated that the content of his message was clearly erroneous, deceiving the public, and distorting facts, and issued a severe condemnation.

The Environmental Protection Bureau explained that in coordination with the central government's epidemic prevention policy, starting from January 1, 2026 (115th year of the Republic), household raw and cooked food waste is uniformly recycled as "food waste," adjusting the recycling category, and there are no longer red bins for pig-fed food waste.

Secondly, household food waste in Taipei City, after being collected online by the Environmental Protection Bureau's cleaning team, is entirely sent directly to the three incinerators of the Environmental Protection Bureau for crushing and dewatering, with no temporary storage. After crushing and dewatering, it is composted and reused, and made into organic fertilizers and liquid fertilizers which are returned to citizens free of charge.

Regarding the Beitou Incinerator aerial photos, the Environmental Protection Bureau said that upon reviewing the aerial photos of the Beitou Incinerator provided by Lin Bing-yao, the green tarpaulin area was not green containers or temporary food waste storage, nor was it a food waste pre-treatment area. It was a storage area for stabilized fly ash for reuse. (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 1150505