Waste Collection and Management

ECOVE Waste Management Corp. provides waste collection and transportation, as well as waste incineration residue removal services. In 2023, the total amount of waste collected and managed by ECOVE was 271,268 metric tons, which accounted for 36% of the total amount of waste collected and managed by domestic large-scale municipal waste recycling (incineration) plants on behalf of private organizations. To effectively manage waste quality, ECOVE utilizes an intelligent management system that screens vendor qualifications, approves waste types, establishes and stores entry data, and performs real-time monitoring of entry information. Through the analysis of entry statistics, waste quality is effectively controlled. In 2022, the management system was further optimized by adding functionality to interface with the declaration system of the Ministry of the Environment. This allows for the rapid and accurate upload of data to the regulatory center, ensuring legal compliance and reducing redundant work. In addition, the environmental protection laws and regulations/entry management information can be updated and announced immediately, and the management system can be introduced into each incineration plant to establish a list of unsuitable wastes or manufacturers, so as to strengthen the management of incineration plants, and at the same time, analyze the characteristics of wastes in each area to enhance the efficiency of incinerator combustion.

In order to enhance incineration efficiency and maintain treatment performance, ECOVE Waste Management Corp. also conducts on-site guidance visits to the sources of incineration; a total of 103 sites were visited in 2023 to learn about their manufacturing processes, waste output quality/storage, etc., and at the same time, to educate on the relevant environmental protection laws and regulations, incineration plant entry/exit management points, and to provide recommendations to optimize waste management methods. Among them, there were 17 sources that had violated the regulations on incineration plant entry, 16 of which had completed improvement after counseling, and 1 had not applied for code change as of the end of December, so it would not be renewed for 2024; the remaining 86 subjects were also found to have failed to categorize their wastes, or to have mixed in kitchen wastes and other non-combustibles, and had been asked to make improvement on-site.
In order to enhance the efficiency of the clearing operation, the clearing dispatch management system was built in 2021 to electronicize the previous paper-based operations such as dispatch management, driver management and vehicle management, which not only saves the amount of paper, but also saves manpower time. In 2023, the functions of alcohol test abnormality, attendance abnormality, and API reporting were added to optimize the safety management function and enhance the accuracy of weight reporting.

Waste-to-Energy Performance

The main business of ECOVE Environment Service Corp., a subsidiary of ECOVE, is the operation and management of incineration plants, which converts heat energy from waste incineration into electricity for resale as one of the sources of electricity in Taiwan, which not only reduces the use of fossil fuels, but also reduces the pollution caused by the burial of waste. Through its optimal operation technology, waste is converted into energy and energy is maximized, while waste, gas, and wastewater emissions are reduced, fulfilling the mission of "optimizing the efficiency of resource recycling".

At present, ECOVE Environment Service Corp. manages 8 large-scale waste incineration plants¹ and 2 small-scale industrial waste incineration plants in Taiwan. Since the waste treatment tonnage of the 2 small-scale incineration plants is relatively low, they are excluded from the calculation first, and the statistics² of the 8 large-scale EfW plants¹ are mainly compiled. In 2023, the total amount of waste entering the plant (general waste and general industrial waste) was 1,925,902 metric tons, and ECOVE Environment Service Corp. accounted for 32.45%³ of the total amount of waste entering the plant in Taiwan. Among them, general waste was 1,559,856 metric tons, accounting for 80.99% of the total amount of imported waste, and general industrial waste was 366,046 metric tons, accounting for 19.01% of the total amount of imported waste. According to the latest announcement by the Ministry of the Environment of the Executive Yuan, in the past three years, each person in Taiwan generated an average of about 1.28 kilograms⁴ of garbage per day, of which incineration accounted for 38.29%, and ECOVE Environment Service Corp.'s treatment capacity is equivalent to the amount of garbage generated by 8,695,000 people in a full year. Hazardous wastes are required to be treated by specialized treatment organizations in accordance with laws and regulations, and the incineration plants operated by the Company do not receive hazardous wastes.

In addition to Taiwan, our waste incineration services have also expanded overseas, with our subsidiary SINOGAL undertaking general waste disposal business in the Macau region. With a local population of approximately 680,000 people, the total intake of waste in 2023 was 554,560 metric tons, of which general waste accounted for 399,695 metric tons, representing 72.07% of the total, and general industrial waste accounted for 154,865 metric tons, representing 27.93% of the total. Based on the average of the past four years, the annual average total intake was 521,959 metric tons, and the average total processing quantity was 520,073 metric tons.

Waste-to-energy generation and sale of electricity

The waste incineration plants operated and managed by ECOVE Environment Service Corp. (including Macau and excluding the two small plants) not only treat waste, but also generate electricity from the heat generated by incinerating waste. In 2023, a total of 2,465,934 metric tons of waste was incinerated⁵, generating a total of 1,305,782 MWh of electricity. After deducting the incineration plant's self-consumption, the total amount of electricity to be sold back to the power company was about 1,051,060 MWh, which means that 80.49% of the total amount of electricity generated will be exported to the power grid. The electricity to be sold back in 2023 can supply the annual electricity consumption of approximately 242,700 customers in Taiwan⁶ and 33,500 customers in Macau⁷. With the electricity generated from the incineration plant, a total of about 671,200 metric tons of CO₂e was reduced in 2023 for Taiwan and Macau power companies.

Solar Power

Solar power is one of the world's most important clean energy sources and a key development project of the National Development Council's National Net Zero 12 Strategy; ECOVE's subsidiary, ECOVE Solar Energy Corporation, focuses on the development, investment, construction and operation of solar power systems. By the end of 2023, a total of 160 MW of capacity has been developed both domestically and externally. ECOVE Solar Energy Corporation has also completed many construction projects with major partners (High Speed Rail, Kaohsiung Metro, Taipei Metro, Taichung Metro, Port of Kaohsiung, and Tainan City Government, etc.), providing long-term stable renewable energy, and the cumulative results include 40.02 MWp of ground-type projects, 60.45 MWp of rooftop-type projects, and 5.06 MWp of water-type projects. The total completed capacity is 105.53 MWp. To overcome the inherent intermittency of renewable energy and mitigate the impact on the power grid, Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) has planned an electricity trading platform and established a market for ancillary services. This allows private investors to deploy energy storage systems to provide stable power services. ECOVE Solar Energy Corporation currently has a 5MW energy storage project to provide Taipower with auxiliary power services.
With the successive amendments to the Electricity Act and the Renewable Energy Development Act by the government, Taiwan has fully opened up the renewable energy sector for direct supply, wholesale, and the sale of renewable energy. ECOVE Solar Energy Corporation has long been dedicated to the development of the solar energy field in Taiwan. In response to the global net-zero carbon emissions agenda and the urgent demand for green energy from major corporations, ECOVE Solar Energy Corporation officially entered the green energy trading business in 2021. It provides optimal solutions to enterprises, assisting them in achieving carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions goals. As of the end of 2023, ECOVE Solar Energy Corporation has signed seven green energy supply contracts and continues to explore other cooperative opportunities.

Recycling

In a resource-constrained environment, ECOVE firmly believes that circular economy is the most sustainable way to operate. Therefore, we leverage our core expertise to avoid pollution and waste generation from the source through redesign, business models, and improved resource efficiency. We aim to create more value with fewer resources, while aligning with government sustainable development policies and promoting waste resource utilization towards a circular economy society.

Wastewater Treatment Capacity and Carbon Reduction in Reclaimed Water

ECOVE's core business in the water sector consists of wastewater treatment, rivers and streams restoration, and water resource regeneration. Various methods, including primary treatment, secondary treatment, advanced treatment, and ecological methods, are utilized to remove pollutants from water and further recycle and reuse water resources. In order to keep track of the quality of the effluent from the plant, an automatic continuous monitoring system is installed at the plant to obtain the trend of the effluent quality and make it available for enquiry by the authorities and the public.

Wastewater treatment

For the part of wastewater treatment, the current operation sites include Linkou Water Resources Recycling Center and Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park Water Resource Treatment Plant. The treatment process consists of pretreatment and primary treatment to remove garbage and suspended solids from the water, followed by secondary biological treatment to tame microorganisms to remove water-soluble pollutants, and then simple tertiary treatment to produce recycled water for internal/external use. The commercial operation of the Zhongli BOT sewer system is expected to begin in 2024.
Total wastewater capacity of 26,653,095 cubic meters and cumulative reclaimed water production of 13,702,057 cubic meters in 2023. Based on the estimation criteria outlined in the Ministry of the Interior's "Technical Standards for Building Wastewater Treatment Facilities," ECOVE's efforts and achievements in wastewater treatment and water resource reuse are equivalent to serving 118,460,000 person-days. This is equivalent to treating the sewage output of the national population for nearly 5.06 days. The amount of water recycled is also equivalent to the daily water consumption of 47,577,000 individuals. In addition to treating wastewater, we provide clean water resources as an alternative water source, equivalent to the daily water consumption of nearly 47,577,000 individuals, thus continuously enhancing the efficiency of water resources.

River and Streams Rehabilitation

For river remediation, the current operation sites include the New Taipei City Gravel Purification Facility and the Zhonggang Water Resource Recycling Center. Through the flow of sewage through the underground gravel area and aeration and oxygen supply, microorganisms attach to the gravel to form a biofilm, consuming the pollutants in the sewage and remediating the water quality of the river; on the ground with the gravel facilities to set up ecological parks and observation corridors, so as to make it both ecological preservation, recreation and educational functions.

Water Reclamation

The water recycling section includes the TSMC Reclaimed Water Plant at Southern Taiwan Science Park and the Linkou Water Resource Center. The TSMC Reclaimed Water Plant at Southern Taiwan Science Park purifies the effluent from the wastewater treatment plant to meet the water requirements of high-tech factory processes. In addition to removing pollutants from the water by advanced membrane filtration, the plant also uses the BioNET, AFB, and FBC technologies developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to assist in the removal of specific pollutants (e.g., boron and nitrogen), so that water quality reaches the standards for use in the process water of high-tech factories. The reclaimed water generated therefrom is consolidated into the Yongkang Water Resource Center and the Anping Water Resource Center for use by high-tech manufacturers, with a design capacity of 67,000 m3 /day (20,000 m3 /day of reclaimed water from TSMC, 37,500 m3 /day of reclaimed water from the Anping Water Resource Center, and 9,500 m3 /day of reclaimed water from the Yongkang Water Resource Center). In addition, a total of 22,720 cubic meters of discharged water is available at the Linkou Water Resource Center for intake by the plant and external parties.