By Pai Pei-hwa (白佩華) | Special to The Kaohsiung Times
Oct. 27, 2025
Image source: Ministry of the Environment website
TAIWAN — For years, Taiwan treated food waste largely as pig feed or compost material. But with the threat of African swine fever (ASF) and rising urban complaints over odors, the frailties of those conventional disposal routes have been exposed.
According to Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA), starting in October 2021, small-scale pig farms (fewer than 200 heads) were banned from using general food waste, animal by-products, and slaughterhouse waste as feed. Farms with 200 heads or more may continue if they obtain local government approval and ensure the waste is steam-treated at 90 °C for at least one hour before use. (自由時報電子報)
In 2025, following a suspected ASF case in Taichung, the COA announced a nationwide full ban on food-waste feeding to pigs beginning Oct. 22, requiring food waste to be redirected to composting, incineration or landfill. (環境資訊中心)
Facing global net-zero goals, Taiwan must now treat food waste as a valuable organic resource and push for higher-value reuse. Community-scale, small food-waste anaerobic digestion (AD) for power generation offers a promising path for decentralized energy and the circular economy.
Food-waste power generation and the circular economy
Turning food waste into electricity is more than waste disposal—it embodies a circular-economy system. The circular economy replaces the “take-make-use-dispose” model by keeping materials circulating.
Food-waste energy conversion is a powerful example:
- From “waste” to “high-value feedstock”: Food waste becomes a stable source of organics and energy instead of a costly burden.
- Dual cycles of energy and materials: Through anaerobic digestion, food waste produces methane-rich biogas, which can generate green electricity or heat (energy cycle). The digestate and effluent become organic fertilizer (material cycle), returning to the land and replacing high-carbon chemical fertilizer.
- Maximizing environmental benefits: Systematic treatment averts large volumes of food waste going to landfills (where methane emissions rise) or to inefficient incineration, achieving “eliminate waste and pollution”.
Taiwan case studies: Policy to implementation, a two-track progression
Taiwan generates about 3,000 tons of food waste per day. Traditionally, this went to pig feed or composting. With the pig-feeding restrictions now enforced, alternative treatment and energy conversion are gaining momentum.
- Taichung City’s Waipu Green Energy Ecological Park: The country’s first biomass energy plant focused on food waste and agricultural residues. Using imported German AD technology, it is designed for 137,000 tons of input per year and full-load generation of 33.77 million kWh — enough to power about 10,000 households. By the end of 2024, it had generated approximately. 12.98 million kWh.
- Tainan City’s food-waste biogas demonstration system: Built in collaboration with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), it handles roughly 250 tons per day—modest scale but emphasizing demonstration and localized deployment.
From “centralized” to “distributed”: The next step is community scale
Large biomass plants offer scale but rely on long-distance transport and high investment. A shift toward community-scale “micro food-waste energy conversion” stands to reduce transport emissions and build local energy autonomy.
Key components:
- Community-tiered collection and sorting: Set up food-waste drop-off points and encourage separation of raw vs cooked waste.
- Local energy circulation: Install small anaerobic digesters in neighborhoods; generated power can serve public lighting or hot-water systems.
- By-product reuse: Solid digestate becomes fertilizer, forming “food waste → fertilizer → food → food waste” loops.
- Financial and governance innovation: Use “energy-sharing” models where residents co-invest in small systems and receive returns from community operations.
Risk management and the BS 8001 sustainability methodology
Any new model carries risk. Proponents must map risks and build governance accordingly for sustainable success.
Risk matrix for food-waste energy conversion:
| Risk type | Specific risks | Governance strategies |
| Technical | Equipment failure, delayed maintenance | Use modular design and remote monitoring; sign long-term EPC and maintenance contracts |
| Feedstock | Poor sorting, high impurity load | Strengthen source separation education; upgrade pre-treatment and de-watering systems |
| Social | Odor escape, NIMBY resistance | Build enclosed facilities, high-efficiency deodorization; create community feedback & open data |
| Policy | Feed-in tariffs or subsidies may change | Focus on self-consumption models; diversify revenue beyond one tariff |
| Financial | High upfront cost; long pay-back period | Seek green-finance support; ensure stable digestate market and multiple revenue streams |
BS 8001: The global first practice framework for the circular economy. It guides enterprises/communities through six principles: systems thinking, collaboration, value optimization, stewardship, transparency, and innovation. Projects should follow these to turn concepts into operational systems.
- Systems thinking: View the entire chain of food waste, energy/fertilizer loop, and agriculture.
- Collaboration: Encourage cross-sector coordination: restaurants, tech firms, government, farmers (co-digestion, fertilizer contract-farming).
- Value optimization: Go beyond electricity to capture the high value of digestate/fertilizer, maximizing feedstock value.
- Stewardship: Commit to final use of digestate and effluent; ensure quality/safety as fertilizer.
- Transparency: Publish biogas output, power generation, and fertilizer composition to build trust.
- Innovation: Adopt localized pre-treatment tech optimized for Taiwan’s high oil/high salt food-waste profile.
Once food-waste energy conversion enters the community level, data becomes more critical. Artificial intelligence can monitor collection volumes, generation output, carbon reduction, anomaly alerts; image recognition can improve sorting accuracy; energy management systems optimize dispatch. Smart, real-time community governance becomes feasible, and sustainability outcomes are measurable.
Conclusion
Taiwan’s food-waste issue is not just an environmental challenge—it is a major opportunity for energy transition and circular economy. With small-scale anaerobic digestion technology, and by following ESG frameworks and BS 8001 guidance, Taiwanese firms and communities can shift from “environmental burden” to a stable “green asset.”
This distributed, localized food-waste-to-energy model can reduce the risks tied to traditional disposal, create new industrial value, and turn household leftovers into power lighting neighborhood corners.
About the Author:
Pei-Hwa Pai (白佩華) has over twenty years of experience in risk management and sustainability consulting. Holding dual master’s degrees in communication from U.S. institutions, Ms. Pai also earned a Certificate in Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies from the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, professional certificates in Strategy Analysis, Management and Leadership, and Business in Society from Harvard Business School, and an ESG Materiality Analysis Certificate from the Wharton School. She further holds certifications in TCFD, CDP, and SBTi training from Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), along with credentials as a lead auditor for ISO 14064, ISO 14068-1, ISO/IEC 42001, and expertise in ISO 14067 and BS 8001. Trained under the MIC Industry Analyst Program, she brings both academic rigor and industry insight to her consulting practice.
Pai has also established two scholarships dedicated to sustainability and AI, supporting academic research and encouraging young people to enter the field of sustainable development. Over the years, Ms. Pai has guided numerous companies in successfully implementing sustainability transformations. Her columns have been published across numerous media outlets, and she continues to serve as a strategic and sustainability advisor to the industry.
