The Incineration Plant

When the garbage truck had finished collecting the trash, the truck would deliver the trash to the incinerator plant to burn them up. There were three incinerator plants in Taipei, Ne Hu incinerator, Mu Zha incinerator, and Bei Tou incinerator. Miss Zou, our teacher, had taken us to visit Ne Hu incinerator plant which was the first incinerator in Taiwan.

Ne Hu Incinerator Plant

When we arrived at Nei Hu incinerator plant, there was an aunt who gave us a brief introduction about Nei Hu incinerator plant. From the brief introduction, we knew the Department of Environmental Protection of the Taipei City Government (TDEP) implemented a" Ten year plan for treating Taipei's Garbage ". Thus the department began planning for the establishment of incinerators in 1985. Nei Hu incinerator was the first incinerator to be planned, built and operational .The start-up and trial burning procedures were begun in 1991 and the plant became fully operational and administered by the TDEP in January 1992. It is the first large-scale, high-efficiency refuse incinerator in Taiwan .It burns all combustible material and reduces the volume of refuse to one-tenth the original volume.

In the incinerator plant, the staff would throw the garbage into the garbage pit, then using big tongs to put the garbage into the incinerator for burning. After burning, there were five kinds of remnants, liquid waste, waste gas, bottom ashes, flying ashes, and the incombustibles. The residual was sent to a qualified recycling plant. The heat generated from burning the refuse was recovered by a heat recovery boiler and transformed into power which operated steam turbines that generated electricity .By incinerating garbage we could effectively reduce the amount of waste in an environmentally safe manner so that the resulting ashes were not harmful to the environment and the heat produced could be recovered and recycled in a profitable manner. Furthermore, the incinerator had a lot of public facilities (e.g. indoor swimming pool, activity center and tennis court), which was a benchmark of community relations and exemplary model for other incinerators in Taiwan.

It was too stinking to breathe, so when we went out the back door of the plant we breathed the fresh air deeply, and we saw the outlet of flying and bottom ashes in the back door of the plant. After the brief introduction, we entered the plant to look round. The staff guided us to see a bucket of solidifying ashes, and then we went upstairs to the seventh floor. Splendid! There was a garbage pit with the height of seven floors. It smelled disgusting. It was a hard work for the staff to work there all day long.

There was a big pair of tongs to clip the garbage continuously into the incinerator. After that, we went downstairs to the third floor, and we saw the central controlling room. We watched the bright flames through the transparent glass outside the room. In the meantime, we smelled the garbage burning. The garbage stank around the room.

It was too stinking to breathe, so when we went out the back door of the plant we breathed the fresh air deeply, and we saw the outlet of flying and bottom ashes in the back door of the plant.

Central Controlling Room

The Garbage Pit

Our Words

Pin Xin: When I was a little child, I had a question: “Where is the garbage? Who helps us to deal with the disgusting trash?” After visiting Nei Hu Incinerator Plant, I have gotten a clear idea where the garbage is. From the visiting to Nei Hu Incinerator Plant, I well understand the procedure of municipal waste treatment is so complicated and hard. I learn a lesson. That is, in order to release the loading of the staff we should do the sorting garbage well.

Lee Kuan: After back home I drank a bottle of yakult, and when I wanted to throw the bottle into the trash box, I thought that would be a burden to the incinerator so I washed the bottle and put it into the recycling basket and I felt it better.

Qi Ying: My mother has exerted all her strength in recycling resources for several years, but I was often annoyed and threw the garbage directly into the trash can. My mother always taught me patiently, “Plastic bags, bottles, and cans could be recycled. You should wash them and throw into the recycling basket.” After visiting the incinerator plant and burying space, I just understood the staff was making painstaking efforts to manage the garbage. I hoped the goal of “No Need to Bury the Garbage, to Recycle Totally” would be achieved.

Ming Yi: Before visiting the incinerator plant, I was the person who threw the trash into the trash can directly, and I just knew the trash would be thrown into the garbage truck. I didn’t care about where the garbage truck was. After I visited the incinerator plant by myself, I really knew the garbage treatment was so complicated that I would be cautious when I made any garbage.

 

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