The 5th United Cities and Local Government-Asia Pacific Congress (UCLG ASPAC Congress 2014) will be held at the Regent Hotel in Taipei, R.O.C., from 3 to 6 September 2014. UCLG ASPAC currently has 110 members, comprising cities and local governments. Taipei City is also actively engaged in UCLG ASPAC.

The Taipei City government will be hosting the UCLG ASPAC Congress 2014. The theme of the congress is An Adaptive City: Embedding Design in City Governance. Experts from a wide range of fields related to city governance have been invited to share their experience and insight. The environmental protection session of the congress is entitled How to Construct a Zero Waste, Recycling Society. Speakers include Dr Masaru Tanaka, Director of the Sustainability Research Institute, Tottori University of Environmental Studies. He will speak about Japan's past experiences and describe policies aimed at creating zero waste and a sound recycling society. In addition, Dr Joshua Ka Ho Mok (Vice President, Hong Kong Institute of Education) and Dr Chow Cheuk Fai Stephen (associate professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Institute of Education) will present strategies through which the Hong Kong government has addressed several waste management issues. There will follow a debate on new urban environmental challenges. Dr Pen-Chi Chiang (professor, Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University) will talk about a successful case of a green supply-chain which integrates several petrochemical plants in various industrial parks in Taiwan.

Taipei City is densely populated and lacks open space. In 2000 the Taipei City Government launched initiatives to resolve waste disposal problems, develop a sound recycling society and bring Taipei into a phase of sustainable development. The “Total Recycling, Zero Landfill” policy aims, by 2020, to maximize resource recycling, minimize the incinerated waste and discontinue the use of landfills. The people of Taipei have adapted to new practices, such as the requirement that all non-recyclable refuse be collected in mandatory blue bags, which must be paid for. Significant waste reduction has been achieved and recycling of resources has been improved, with the result that Taipei City has already achieved its total recycling/zero landfill goal. In the future, Taipei will continue to develop environmental planning and waste management technologies to create a better recycling society and make Taipei a proactive sustainable city.