Taiflex is committed to zero waste. Besides promoting the concept of resource conservation to employees during daily operation, we focus on process enhancement for source reduction. As we reduce the consumption of resources and materials, we also minimize the pollutants generated. For air pollution, wastewater, and solid waste which we cannot eliminate completely at present, we establish pollution control facilities or engage qualified professional companies to handle the matters. We strive to reduce the environmental impact of our operations and seek the best solution in order to gradually achieve the ultimate goal of zero pollution.
Taiflex has built a waste adhesive recycling system, which refines chemicals into industrial grade raw materials through distillation, purification and other related processes for them to be used at the production line. The recycling not only cuts down stationary pollution sources and exhaust emissions to stay environmentally friendly, but also reduces the volume of raw materials purchased to enhance the Company's competitiveness. Currently, the total recycling volumes of NMP and MEK have been increasing annually, with over 60% reused in production lines.
We insist on controlling the use of raw materials with the most optimal and feasible approaches, aiming to achieve a balance between environmental protection and economy with minimal waste and production costs. To reduce the heterogeneity of process scraps and improve the efficiency of waste recycling, the Manufacturing Center has developed in-house film removers in 2023 to peel off the release paper from the scrap cover-layers (PI film + adhesive + release paper). It is estimated that 50,000~70,000kg of release paper can be separately collected annually and recycled as papers. The remaining scraps (PI film+ adhesive) can then be further processed into solid recovered fuel (SRF), aligning with the government's promotion of the eco-concept - “waste to energy.”
Taiflex is located in the Kaohsiung Qianzhen Technology Industrial Park, which has water supplied from the Fongshan Reservoir. According to the World Resources Institute's “Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas,” the risk of water resources in Taiwan is rated as low to medium.
Since we adopt dry process, production line is not where most of the water is consumed. As tap water is mainly used as cooling water for air conditioning, followed by employee daily usage and firefighting purposes, water resource management focuses on the promotion of domestic water conservation, including the recycling of RO and wastewater from drinking fountains as cooling water for air conditioning, dual flush toilet, recycling of rainwater from the roof and condensed water from air conditioning system for watering plants, and adjustments on the conductivity of water discharged from the air conditioning systems.
Effluents from operation are mostly wastewater discharged from the cooling tower of factories and water used for domestic purposes, e.g., wash up or kitchen waste cleaning. Since they are discharged to sewers of the park, they would not affect the biodiversity in the area.
Our air pollution control facilities adopt regulatory-compliant technologies available and comply with the “Air Pollution Control Act” as well as the “Air Pollutant Emission Standards of Stationary Pollution Sources.” The air pollution control facilities of each factory operate 24 hours a day and 350 days a year. Furthermore, we would engage a third-party certification body to conduct tests on the emission concentration of various air pollutants annually. The results have shown that our emissions have complied with relevant standards and stayed far below the threshold.
Synthesis and coating are the key processes of Taiflex. The production of FCCL generates hazardous solvent waste, which is harmful to the environment if not properly handled. Thus, it is collected in 53-gallon steel drums by the synthesis, front-end and back-end departments, and then purified for reuse through the recovery facilities to effectively reduce the outsourced volume and the associated treatment costs as well as realize circular economy.
We attach great importance to both on-site and off-site waste management. Operations such as terminal storage, removal, and reduction are centrally managed by the Environmental Sustainability Division. We continuously promote the concept of reuse internally and strive to recycle all reusable waste as well as improve resource efficiency to reduce environmental burden. Waste that cannot be reused are handled by third-party waste management professionals certified by the Environmental Protection Administration, and we conduct audits from time to time to ensure waste has been properly treated and to prevent environmental pollution due to negligence or violation of laws.
We stress the importance of waste recycling and detoxification with processes carried out in accordance with the Company's ISO 14001 Waste Disposal Management Standard (EI-PD-06), the “Waste Disposal Act” and the “Regulations Governing Determination of Reasonable Due Care Obligations of Enterprises Commissioning Waste Clearance.” Furthermore, we work toward the goals of localization, decentralization, and reclamation.
