TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The outlying islands of Matsu take pride in their natural and historical appeal, except during typhoons when the beaches become flooded with polystyrene waste from China.
On Thursday (Aug. 3), as Taiwan is being affected by Typhoon Khanun, a Matsu resident surnamed Chou (周) posted photos on Facebook of beaches littered with styrofoam waste. Upset, he said the scene of “typhoon snow” has been a persistent theme when a typhoon hits or during high tides for the offshore islands.
Chou told CNA that this has been happening over the past one or two decades. In more serious instances, storm surges carry the waste all the way inland to the streets and even airport runways.
Magistrate Wang Chung-ming (王忠銘) of Lienchiang County, the official name of the Matsu Islands, said Chinese fishermen use styrofoam products as fish farm buoys. The buoys break down because of waves and float on the ocean before being carried toward the islands, just over nine kilometers from the southeastern coast of China at the closest point.
His government has broached the topic with Chinese counterparts in environmental talks and urged a faster transition to plastic buoys. While progress has been made to phase out the material, not enough effort has been put into it, he lamented.
China has been battered by Typhoon Doksuri, which an environmental official in Matsu blamed for sweeping goods into the sea and thus the floating waste. Matsu has to deal with up to 30 tons of polystyrene waste a year, mostly from beaches.
Chinese polystyrene waste makes its way to Matsu by strong winds or tides. (Facebook, andy4122003 photo)
