Today (November 5) Taichung City Government and Netherlands Trade & Investment Office (NTIO) co-hosted “2018 Taiwan-Netherlands Circular Economy Forum & Interaction”. On the Forum case studies and experiences are shared among the industry, government, and academy. The one-on-one business match also creates green business opportunity between Taiwan and Netherlands. As per Mayor Lin Chia-lung, Taichung Flora Expo has Taiwan’s first circular building “NIAGA”. With that, Taichung also signed a Taiwan and Netherlands circular economy declaration, expecting more solid communication between the two countries through Taichung and Almere City. While Yuemei Sugar Factory and Shuinan Smart City to be introduced with circular economy, the two will be the best choice for Netherlands and other international corporation to invest Taiwan.

the Forum today was joined by Mayor Lin, Representative of NTIO Guy Wittich, Almere Mayor Mr. Weerwind, City Economic Development Bureau Director Lu Yao-zhi, Board Director Huang Yu-zheng of Taisugar and TCEN (Taiwan Circular Economy Network), and many other professors and scholars.

Mayor Lin congratulated the success of Flora Expo “Netherlands Hall”. For the past two years, NTIO Rep Me. Wittich’s effort has contributed to the actual collaboration between Taichung, Taiwan and Almere of Netherlands. In 2022 Almere City will be hosting Floriade, where both cities will join mutual floral event. This time the two parties signed a circular economy declaration, marking the goal of the next phase.

Mayor Lin mentioned that the central government has incorporated circular economy into “5+2 Industry Innovation Project”, which Taichung will be join in for implementation. Taisugar Yuemei Factory, nearby Flora Expo, provides a great location for circular economy development. In addition, the 254-hectare Shuinan Smart City, the demonstration area of “Low Carbon, Innovative, Intelligent” city, is planned to be introduced with circular economy, inviting Dutch corporations to invest and develop in Taiwan.

What’s more, City Government collaborated with Austrian company to create a green energy eco-park in Waipu, where the operation has begun and now processes around 200 tons of kitchen waste and farming waste per day, generating 33.77 million kWh for 10,000 families a year. This is a pioneering case of circular economy that will be prevailing in other cities in the future.
There are 40% of city waste coming from building demolition, says NTIO Rep Mr. Wittich. At the moment Netherlands, Taiwan and Taichung are working on circular economy, and the goal is to realize that in daily environment through mutual effort. In the future more collaboration and innovation is expected to be carried out in technology and education field.

Almere City Mayor Mr. Wittich visited Flora Expo and saw the complete realization of circular economy in Taichung. In Netherlands, cycling is so prevailing that the bicycles have outnumbered the total population of the country. This proves that basically most bicycles are recyclable and can be re-assembled into new bicycles. In his office there is a bicycle recycled and remade. In fact, circular economy is not limited to existing products and can be planned sustainably in advance, so as to determine the process of material and product cycle.

For the 2022 Floriade, host Almere City has long planned and worked on the sustainable economy concept at the time the city was decided to take over the hosting right. The City plans to create an expo of the best circular economy concept in Netherlands.
The “circular economy” was appeared in the 1966, in US economist Kenneth Ewart Boulding’s book: The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth. The key to that is not recycling but redesign; the past industrial economy, from raw materials, manufacture, to use then discard, should be enhanced its resource use efficiency and eliminate waste through product and commercial mode redesign, to reach the goal of complete circulation.

In Taichung, circular economy examples such as the 4.8-hectare site of Phase I&II of Wenshan Landfill is, under both the government and private section’s effort, built with Taiwan’s biggest landfill solar energy factory. The “Wenshan Luguang Project” will develop biogas power generation and solar panels on the roof of animal houses to transform solar energy into electricity, fulfilling green energy economy.

This Forum shares experiences of circular economy with scholars and experts, looking forward to creating sustainability among construction, finance and livestock industry. The event arranged one on one business match by having local corporations meeting up with renowned Dutch enterprises such as ING Bank, Signify and DSM, co-creating green business opportunity.