ECOVE's 20-year effort to care for Zhunan wetland ecology
ECOVE has long been focusing on environmental sustainability issues and emphasizes on ecological conservation. In August 2002, ECOVE MEC acquired the development rights for a BOT waste incineration plant in Miaoli County. The site of the Miaoli plant is adjacent to the Zhunan man-made wetland, which is the reclaimed land between the old dyke and the newly constructed Zhunan tidal dyke, with an elevation of about 3 to 5 meters above sea level, and was originally the fourth phase of the Zhunan landfill designated as the site area. In order to comply with the concept of co-prosperity with the wetland during the design and planning, the original five hectares of development area was reduced by 17%, so as to leave the waterway on both sides of the plant site to allow the wetland waterway to be connected to preserve the continuity of the wetland, and in order to co-construct with the wetland, the development unit increased the construction period by nearly 13 months. Meanwhile, in order to ensure that the construction and operation of the incineration plant will not impact the surrounding ecosystem, the plant's environmental monitoring program has added regular surveys of terrestrial plants, birds, and wetland ecosystems. In addition to environmental monitoring, the Miaoli incineration plant, in order to build a co-prosperity with the neighboring wetlands, has used the migration of the local world-class butterfly as the inspiration for the chimney painting, and painted the chimney with the purple crow butterfly and tung flower, which is complementary to the ecology of the wetlands next to the plant. In 2010, the Miaoli incineration plant was awarded the Gold Breaker Award in recognition of ECOVE's outstanding construction and operation capabilities. Since the beginning of its operation, the Miaoli plant has been deeply committed to the quality of environmental education venues, both in terms of software and hardware, and its operation has achieved a total of 4 special awards and 8 awards of excellence since its inception. We have also been actively involved in environmental conservation in the community. In 2009, we began working with the county government's Environmental Protection Bureau to clean up the beaches at Zhunan Beach and the forests at Evergreen Forest. In 2013, we began to think about how to combine the characteristics of our factory with the ecology of the neighborhood through the experience of routinely hosting visitors, and planned to apply for an environmental education site. In addition to courses on waste disposal and resource reuse, we also planned to set up a special area for sea-drifting garbage and the purple crow butterfly ecology within the factory, as well as to incorporate community resources and to utilize animation combined with multimedia functions of wireless Internet access, QR Droid technology, and so on. With a wide variety of teaching materials, we successfully obtained the environmental site certification in 2014 and the five-star environmental education site certification in 2017. In recent years, through the cooperation with the Taiwan Purple Crow Ecological Preservation Association, we have created a friendly environment for the Purple Crow Butterfly through the planting and maintenance of Purple Crow Butterfly-friendly plants, as well as the labeling of the Purple Crow Butterfly. In 2023, through the power of our parent company, CTCI Group, we included the Purple Crow Butterfly as a species of concern for the biodiversity of the whole group. From the construction of the Miaoli incineration plant to the long-term operation of the plant, ECOVE has worked hard to create a successful case of co-construction and co-prosperity between an incineration plant and a wetland through its own efforts. ECOVE's long-term care for the wetland ecology in Zhunan, Miaoli incinerator and the neighboring wetland are co-prosperous.
