Taipei City Government

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) initiated the “Enforcement on Used Cooking Oil Recycling” campaign on January 1. The agency mobilized 72 inspectors to monitor used oil recycling practices at local restaurants, eateries and food stalls.

The first wave of inspections targeted 540 businesses in Taipei. If businesses were found violating the new rules such as recycling used cooking oil or handing waste cooking oil to unlicensed recyclers, they will be fined up to a maximum of NT$300,000 and be issued a deadline for improvement. This approach will prevent waste cooking oil from endangering food safety.

Starting on January 1st, 2015, used cooking oil recyclers will be required to obtain a work permit issued by the local environmental protection agency and post government-issued certifications on their vehicles. DEP will conduct random inspection on waste cooking oil recyclers to make sure they carry their permits.

Currently, 33 work permits for used cooking oil recyclers and 29 vehicle certifications have been issued. To help restaurants and food companies identify qualified recyclers, the work permit bears a QR code which, when scanned with a smartphone, would open webpage containing information about the permit holders – photo ID, affiliated company, telephone number, and work permit number.

Food stall owners and hawkers providing used cooking oil to recyclers without a license will receive fines between NT$1,200 and NT$6,000, while restaurants and businesses violating the rules will be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000.

The list of licensed recyclers who have obtained a work permit is available from the website of DEP. For more information, please visit the website at http://www.dep.taipei.gov.tw (Chinese).