Author: Grayson Shor

Taiwan and the Circular Economy (台灣與循環經濟)

A Brief Mandarin Language Introduction to the Circular Economy in Taiwan

by the American Institute in Taiwan Circular Economy Consultant Grayson Shor

Download my PowerPoint presentation: Taiwan and the Circular Economy, by Grayson Shor: 台灣與循環經濟.

Mandarin Text: 台灣與循環經濟

each paragraph corresponds to a slide in my PPT

1. 1. 第1頁
      1. 大家好！我的名字是邵世涵。我今天的演講主題是：台灣與循環經濟
      2. 你們知道「循環經濟」是什麼？你們知道台灣是亞洲循環經濟發展得最好的國家嗎？如果你不知道的話，放心吧。因為我現在立刻就要告訴你。
   2. 第2頁：
      1. 這位先生曾經說過：
         1. 1. 「這個宇宙是有限的，它的資源有限。
               如果生命沒有受到控制，
               生命將不繼續存在。
               今天的生活習慣需要修正」
   3. 第3頁：
      1. 他的意思是：隨著世界上的人口越來越多，大家使用的資源也越來越多。要是資源再不控制大家就不能生存了。
   4. 第4頁：
      1. 不過，這有什麼壞處？現在出生的人，當他們邁入青壯年時，就要面對稀有金屬匱乏的問題；到中年時更將面臨能源匱乏的問題。
   5. 第5頁：
      1. 再加上，隨著中產階級消費者越來越多，垃圾和污染也越來越嚴重。
   6. 第6頁：
      1. 為什麼情況變成了這樣？一般來說，大部分的產品的一生是：
         1. 首先：從環境裡開採資源
         2. 然後：用這些資源生產出產品
         3. 最後：當一個人用過了這些產品，想買新款的產品時，他們就會把用過的產品丟到垃圾桶。
         4. 這個做法對環境不好不說，消費者對資源的使用也缺乏效能。

1. 7. 第7頁：
      1. 這樣一來，我們應該做什麼改變？
      2. 我們應該改一改「垃圾」的定義 。再不改變我們的想法，我們的資源就要用完了。
   8. 第8頁：
      7. 循環經濟是一個讓資源可恢復且可再生的經濟和產業系統。簡單來說,循環經濟努力地讓垃圾可以再利用。
      8. 
   9.  第9頁：
      1. 在台灣循環經濟發展得很快。
      2. 我要很快地介紹一些台灣循環經濟的個案研究
   10. 第10頁：
       1. 你知道台灣一天消費的咖啡豆高達30噸嗎？可是，咖啡豆的原料僅有2%成為咖啡。
       2. 台灣有世界上第一家用咖啡渣做衣服的公司，讓咖啡渣可以循環使用。
   11. 第11頁：
       1. 全台灣每年製造出15億個一次性飲料杯
       2. 這個公司租賃杯子，讓大家可以循環使用。
   12. 第12頁：
       1. 這家農場使用動物糞便生產沼氣
       2. 他們不但只用自己發的電，還減少了他們的溫室氣體排放量
   13. 第13頁：
       1. 在台北這座大樓，叫「EcoArk」是100%利用寶特瓶做的。
   14. 第14頁：
       1. 謝謝大家！希望你們能在我的演講中聽到一些對你有用的概念。

—

Grayson Shor

M.A. International Affairs, Specialized in Asia’s Emerging Circular Economy Ecosystem and Plastic Marine Debris

Sigur Center 2019 Asian Language Fellow

National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Marine Debris Beach Cleanup in Taiwan

Marine debris not only adversely affect marine animals when they ingest or are entangled in the them (i.e. the viral video of the turtle with a straw stuck in its nose), but also threaten food safety and quality, human health, and coastal tourism. Moreover, marine debris risk destabilizing the economic livelihood and health of the nearly 2 billion people who rely on the ocean for their primary source of protein. The most hazardous and wide-spread marine debris are plastics. Plastic waste makes up 80% of all the waste in the world’s oceans. How did this happen? Well, in short- we produce a lot of plastic! Plastic production has been exponentially increasingly since it became a commonplace consumer good in the 1950s (i.e. Tupperware, shopping bags, and candy wrappers). In 2015 alone, the amount of plastic produced was nearly equivalent to the estimated mass of 2/3 of the entire human population. Of all this plastic waste, it is estimated that only around 10% has been properly recycled, with the rest entering landfills, incineration plants, and natural environments. East Asia and the Pacific Region account for 60% of the global total of marine debris. Therefore it is no surprise that Asian countries make up eight of the top ten marine debris-polluting nations. Thus, I’ve come to Taiwan not only to increase my Mandarin language skills but also to conduct intensive research on finding/developing sustainable business solutions and emerging technologies that can be leveraged to reduce plastic marine debris. My research has been fascinating so far, and I am already assisting various organizations to adopt Circular Economy business models and technologies to reduce their waste generation while increasing profits at the same time. The best solution to addressing the plastic marine debris issue is to make solving it an easy and profitable decision for businesses, especially large corporations which heavily influence global supply chains. Below is a link to a video produced by my colleague Matt Girvan of a recent beach cleanup we documented in northern Taiwan. While beach cleanups do not solve the marine debris issue, they are immensely valuable as an educational and community building activity to increase awareness of this rapidly evolving global challenge. Enjoy the film! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTo96Tdnb_w *video credit: Matt Girvan Media; https://mattgirvanmedia.com/   Grayson Shor M.A. International Affairs, Specialized in Asia’s Emerging Circular Economy Business Ecosystem and Plastic Marine Debris Solutions Sigur Center 2019 Asian Language Fellow National Taiwan University, Taiwan

A few weeks back my team and I were announced as Finalists in Taiwan’s international Presidential Hackathon. We were selected for our digital platform, known as Madaster, which creates a digital ledger of all the building materials existing in designated infrastructure. In July 2019 we will be meeting with the president of Taiwan as well as various ministers and CEOs of Taiwan’s leading environmental and technology institutions to demo our platform and compete with the other five finalist teams from across the world. I’ve received countless requests to share our Hackathon application, so in the spirt of the event’s focus on open-data and civic responsibility I am posting our application publicly below. But first, I must explain, “what is the Taiwan Presidential Hackathon and its challenge theme this year?”.

According to the Hackathon’s website:

“In line with the needs of the country’s social development, the Taiwan Presidential Hackathon, launched in 2018, is an initiative designed by the Taiwanese government to demonstrate its emphasis on open-source, open data, and related best practices to address the needs of the country through social innovations and economic development.

This event aims to facilitate exchanges among data owners, data scientists, and field experts to tap into the collective wisdom across government, industry, private and public sectors. Ultimately, it aims to accelerate the optimization of public services and stimulate inclusive social and economic growth for all people.”

The challenge theme of the 2019 international track of the Hackathon is to make a working platform which facilitates sustainable infrastructure development. Without further ado, our application is below. Enjoy!

2019 Taiwan Presidential Hackathon: Enabling Sustainable Infrastructure

Project Name: Enabling Sustainable Infrastructure The Madaster Platform for Material Identity

WHICH PROBLEM DO YOU WANT TO SOLVE:

We want to solve the problem of waste. In our vision, waste is material without an identity. We can eliminate waste by giving materials and products applied in the construction sector an identity through detailed registration and documentation through material passports. Our focus is specifically upon addressing waste generated from buildings and infrastructure, a sector which globally produces 40% of all waste annually, in order to promote sustainable and circular materials management.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT:

Our planet is a closed system, meaning that all our resources are limited editions. Still we throw away valuable resources – limited editions – as waste. And we don’t have to, as waste is material without an identity. With Madaster we want to give identities to materials applied in the built environment. Madaster created a register to safely capture all material and product data, within the limitations of privacy and security. Registration of materials contributes to the transition towards a circular economy, as the identity data of products and materials provide necessary insights in the potential reuse. The Madaster platform indicates to what extend circular characteristics are applied to a building and encourages circular design. Financial valuation of the materials in a building provide transparency in the potential financial benefit of reuse. With a register like Madaster, the potential of the material stock in real estate, infrastructure and regions can be identified and a transition towards a circular economy can be facilitated.

TO UNDERSTAND THIS PROBLEM WHAT DATA DO YOU HAVE:

1st: Material related data: source files (BIM/IFC or Excel) are the basis of a building in Madaster. The building information models gives insight in the metrics (volumes) of materials and its characteristics. This is the basis for the material passport.

2nd: Pricing data: this data gives insight in the historical, actual and expected future value of materials. The transition towards a circular economy requires that we do not only give an identity but also a financial valuation to materials.

3rd: external product data sources for enrichment of the registration.

4^th: building data, such as land registration details, images, quotations, assembly instructions etc.

5^th: circularity data: to indicate the re-use potential

DO YOU NEED OTHER TYPE OF DATA? HOW DO YOU PLAN ON GATHERING IT?:

The platform is linked to external product data sources to enrich the registration and has an interface (API) for automated exchange of data with partners. Data Partners provide data and services that enrich the Madaster Platform and enhance data reliability. Examples of the data provided by Data Partners include financial, circular and material- and product-related data.

Globally we require additional data partners to enrich the platform the same way we did for the Dutch construction market. For Taiwan we need for example environmental data and price data in order to support the financial indicator and product data to enrich existing building registrations.

Because the working methods in Taiwan differ from those in the Netherlands, it is important to implement a local demonstration project. For Taiwan we have sought cooperation with Taiwan Construction and Research Institute (TCRI) to create a local proof of concept. We are convinced that if we can carry out a demonstration project locally we can convince Taiwanese businesses and the government of the added value of Madaster. This way potential customers, investors and data partners can be attracted.

PLEASE DESCRIBE THE EXPECTED OUTPUT OF YOUR PROJECT:

Globally we want to digitize all applied materials and products in the construction sector. Through documentation we can provide insight in the potential of existing material for reuse in a circular economy.

For Taiwan we want to demonstrate:

1. The efficiency of applying existing information (BIM models) for registration in Madaster and the realization of the Madaster functionality (including materials passport, circular and financial valuation).
2. The necessity of having detailed material and product data available for the realization of a circular economy and the way in which Madaster can realize this.
3. The potential of a database with a public objective in which all products, materials and buildings are registered for the development and application of – new – circular business models such as market places, certification companies, financiers and builders.

WHAT IS YOUR PROGRESS TO DATE:

Madaster is a concept that has already been tested and proven to work. Since our launch in 2017 in The Netherlands we’ve registered over 2 million square meters in our database.

In 2018 we came in touch with two Taiwanese delegations from the construction sector. This introduction revealed the interest in the Madaster platform and the possibilities to facilitate the transition to a circular economy.

In November 2018 we visited Taiwan together with a Netherlands Circular Economy Mission to Taiwan. We visited the local governments of Taipei, Taoyuan, Tainan, Taichung, and the Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TaiSugar).

In March 2019 we signed an agreement to work together with TCRI as our local partner in Taiwan. This marks a unique opportunity to evolve and internationally expand Taiwan’s domestically-founded green building certification, EEWH, the world’s first green building certification designed for structures in sub-tropical regions. We also signed an agreement with TopOne International Consultants for a demonstration project of 167,772 m2. TaiSugar introduced their planned project for Yuemei Sugar Refinery (500m2) and another in Shalun (30,000m2). Furthermore, at this moment we are registering into our platform Taiwan’s first-ever circular building, the Holland Pavilion of TaiChung World Flora. All the materials and products of this building will be re-used by TaiSugar in future construction.

ONCE COMPLETED HOW DO YOU PLAN TO USE THE OUTPUT OF YOUR PROJECT:

Madaster has the ambition to realize a local ecosystem that consists of:

1. a) a not-for-profit foundation that stimulates and oversees the transition towards a circular economy supported by the Madaster Platform and
2. b) a Taiwanese service organization that develops and operates the Madaster Platform in Taiwan.

The outcome of the project and resulting platform will be used to kickstart the realization of the Taiwanese circular economy ecosystem.

DESCRIBE THE EXPECTED OUTCOME AND IMPACT OF YOUR PROJECT, ONCE IMPLEMENTED:

Globally and regionally we trust using the anonymized metadata of the platform is a way to help cities and governments better track and trace and understand their Resource Banks. Furthermore, this data can be used in conjunction with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze infrastructure and human settlements in a way which has never been done before. Specifically, this will allow for the analysis of the distribution and make-up of materials in human settlements which can in-turn provide profound data-driven indicators for the analysis of environmental and socioeconomic factors (i.e. inequality, environmental change, and sustainable communities). Importantly, this data can be used to understand the barriers to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how to most effectively overcome them. The complete data set on the platform is supervised by the Madaster Foundation, a Dutch non-profit organization, in order to guarantee the privacy, security, and public availability of the (anonymized) data.

Madaster Taiwan will provide insights to construction owners, stakeholders, users and regulators in the potential of existing materials and products applied in the built environment. This potential can be monetized through reuse of materials and reduction of risks. Most of all, Madaster Taiwan will facilitate the elimination of waste through providing identities to all applied products and materials so they can never end up as anonymous waste.

ANY REFERENCES? LINK TO YOUTUBE OR CLOUD DRIVE?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh6yvOzlIZU

https://www.madaster.com/en or https://www.madaster.com/cn

https://mailchi.mp/8261d2d75d97/madaster-news-2019212

Grayson Shor

M.A. International Affairs, Specialized in Asia’s Emerging Circular Economy Ecosystem and Plastic Marine Debris

Sigur Center 2019 Asian Language Fellow

National Taiwan University, Taiwan