From January 1, 2026, households in both Taipei City and New Taipei City no longer need to separate raw and cooked kitchen waste: drain off the liquid and put everything together into the kitchen waste bin on the garbage truck. But what each city accepts is different. Taipei's kitchen waste can include fish, shrimp, meat, offal and shells. New Taipei classes animal bones, hard shells, uncooked raw meat and offal as not kitchen waste, to be put in designated garbage bags and thrown out as general garbage.
Reminder: Do not mix plastic bags, chopsticks, toothpicks or paper towels into the kitchen waste bin. Violating the sorting rules may be punished with a fine under the Waste Disposal Act, and New Taipei's sanitation teams (清潔隊) may also refuse collection. Do not pour kitchen waste into the toilet or sink. For questions about sorting, call 02-2720-8889 ext. 7284 in Taipei City, or the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department at 02-2953-2111, and follow each city's environmental protection department's latest announcements.
Why raw and cooked no longer need to be separated from 2026
In the past, Taipei and New Taipei split kitchen waste into two bins because cooked kitchen waste (formerly called "pig-feed kitchen waste" in Taipei) was sent to feed pigs, while raw kitchen waste ("compost kitchen waste") was sent for composting. At its meeting on December 4, 2025, the Executive Yuan heard a report from the Ministry of Agriculture on "adjusting the policy of feeding kitchen waste to pigs". The explainer attached to the agenda page says that after an African swine fever case in Wuqi, Taichung on October 22, 2025, the central government reviewed the policy and decided to ban feeding kitchen waste to pigs entirely, with the transition deadline running to December 31, 2026 at the latest. During the transition, the only animal-based feed materials allowed are business kitchen waste, animal-based residue and slaughterhouse by-products (plant-based materials such as plant residue and fruit and vegetable scraps can continue to be used), and household kitchen waste is prohibited. The Ministry of Environment will also require that kitchen waste collected by sanitation teams may not be auctioned to pig farmers.
Since household kitchen waste can no longer be fed to pigs, there is no reason to separate raw from cooked. The two cities' environmental protection departments announced the following:
- Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection, "Cooperation items for household kitchen waste recycling" (page updated 2026-01-06): from January 1, 2026, pig-feed kitchen waste and compost kitchen waste are no longer distinguished, and all of it is recycled as kitchen waste.
- New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department press release (issued 2025-12-29, updated 2026-01-06): in response to the central government banning household kitchen waste from pig feed starting January 1, 2026, it amended its announcement of the items of general waste that must be recycled in the city and the methods of putting them out and collecting them. From January 1, 2026, household kitchen waste need not be separated into raw and cooked, and is handed over together, drained, to the kitchen waste bin on the route garbage truck.
New Taipei's press release also explains that the Ministry of Environment set January 1 to December 31, 2026 as a buffer period. During the buffer period, however, only the parties on a positive list, such as schools, military units, correctional institutions, group catering, chain convenience stores, restaurants, department stores and supermarkets, may hand kitchen waste to qualified livestock farms; household and food-stall kitchen waste is not included. So for ordinary households, the whole of 2026 is one bin for everything. This article verified this on 2026-10-30, and both cities' pages still keep this rule.
How Taipei and New Taipei differ
| Item | Taipei City | New Taipei City | Basis |
|---|
| How many categories | No separation; all recycled as kitchen waste | No raw/cooked separation | Announcements of both cities' environmental protection departments |
| Meat | Fish, shrimp, meat and offal, fresh or cooked, are all accepted | Cooked chicken, duck, fish, beef, mutton and pork are accepted; uncooked raw meat and raw offal are not | Taipei cooperation items; New Taipei kitchen waste sorting method |
| Bones and hard shells | Shellfish shells (crab shell, clam shell, shellfish) are accepted | Animal bones and hard shells are not accepted; of soft shells, only eggshells and shrimp shells (not lobster shells) are accepted | Same as above |
| Coconut shells, durian husks | Not put in kitchen waste; bagged separately and handed to the recycling truck for free collection | Classed as fruit peel and shells; households that cannot cut them up halve them, put them in a designated garbage bag and hand them to the garbage truck | Same as above |
| Sugarcane peel, sugarcane bagasse | Sugarcane bagasse is recycled as kitchen waste; sugarcane peel is not listed separately | Bagasse is cut to 10 cm x 10 cm or smaller before handing over; households that cannot cut sugarcane peel put it in a designated garbage bag | Taipei Q&A; New Taipei kitchen waste sorting method |
| Powdered foods | Expired seasonings can go in as kitchen waste | Milk powder, flour, sugar and the like are mixed with water and then handed to the kitchen waste bin | Taipei Q&A; New Taipei kitchen waste sorting method |
| How to hand it over | Collected at the same time and place as garbage; drain, put in a container and pour into the kitchen waste collection bin | Drain, bring your own container, and hand it to the kitchen waste bin on the route garbage truck | Pages of both cities' environmental protection departments |
The reason for the differences can be seen in how each city processes the waste. New Taipei says household kitchen waste is now reused through composting, black soldier fly biological treatment, anaerobic co-digestion and similar methods, and until processing capacity is fully in place, part of it is dewatered, reduced in volume and incinerated. Taipei says kitchen waste is collected and sent to the pre-treatment facilities at three incinerators for dewatering, then composted into organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. This article infers that New Taipei's exclusion of bones and raw meat is related to the input requirements of its reuse facilities, but New Taipei's announcement itself does not state the reason.
What cannot go in the kitchen waste bin
Below are the items that both cities' pages explicitly list as "not kitchen waste" or "do not mix in", and where they should go.
- Outer packaging: zongzi leaves, plastic bags, plastic boxes and polystyrene foam (Taipei); expired food must have its outer packaging torn off first (New Taipei).
- Tableware and odds and ends: chopsticks, spoons, toothpicks and paper towels (Taipei); chopsticks and toothpicks (New Taipei). After kitchen waste in a plastic bag is poured out, put the dirty plastic bag in the garbage truck or collection bin (Taipei).
- Cat litter: the Taipei Q&A states that even wood-chip litter is not kitchen waste; mixed with animal feces it raises hygiene concerns, so put it in general garbage.
- Waste cooking oil: the Taipei Q&A states that it belongs to the general category of resource recycling; put it in a bottle, mark it as cooking oil and hand it to the recycling truck, and do not pour it into kitchen waste.
- Branches and tree trunks: New Taipei does not accept thick trunks and branches; flowers and leaves can go in as kitchen waste in both cities.
- New Taipei only: animal bones, hard shells, uncooked raw meat, offal and products made from them are put in designated garbage bags and handed to the garbage truck for incineration.
Tea leaves, coffee grounds and Chinese herbal medicine dregs count as kitchen waste in both cities. For things that should go to resource recycling, such as batteries, light tubes and small appliances, see How to recycle old batteries, light tubes and small appliances; for old furniture and mattresses, see How to dispose of bulky waste. To look up how to sort a single item, you can use How to dispose of garbage: sorting and collection lookup.
What happens if you break the rules: fines and refused collection
Article 12 of the Waste Disposal Act (the law database shows an amendment date of July 15, 2026) authorizes the central government to set rules for sorting, storing and putting out general waste, and enforcement agencies may also add sorting and putting-out rules according to local conditions. Article 50 provides that violating these sorting, storage and putting-out rules is punishable by a fine of not less than NT$1,200 and not more than NT$100,000, and the violator may be notified to improve within a deadline; if there is no improvement by the deadline, the fine is imposed again for each occurrence.
The Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection's cooperation items state that if garbage and odds and ends are mixed into kitchen waste, "a fine of 1,200~6,000 may be imposed under the regulations" (NT$1,200 to NT$6,000). The New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department says that the general garbage or kitchen waste collected by sanitation teams must comply with the sorting and draining rules, and sanitation teams may refuse collection from violators. The actual fine depends on each city's penalty guidelines and the individual case.
Keeping kitchen waste from smelling or attracting insects
The following are this article's suggestions, not environmental protection department rules:
- Use a small kitchen waste bin with a lid, put a folded sheet of newspaper at the bottom to absorb moisture, and rinse the bin after emptying it.
- Strain leftover soup and liquid through a strainer first, then put the solids in the kitchen waste bin; both cities require draining.
- In summer, before the garbage truck comes, kitchen waste can be kept in the freezer to reduce odor and fruit flies.
- If you cannot catch the garbage truck, checking the time and location is better than leaving the waste at home for a whole day. In New Taipei you can use New Taipei real-time garbage truck position tracking; for how to look up Taipei routes, see How to check garbage truck times.
This article found no standing rule in Taipei and New Taipei on garbage truck suspensions and make-up collection during typhoons or long holidays; follow each city's environmental protection department's announcement each time. If you are thinking of installing a sink kitchen waste disposer (鐵胃) in your kitchen, read Is a kitchen sink garbage disposer convenient? first for the issues of drain clogging and building bylaws, and do not flush kitchen waste directly down the drain.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need to separate raw and cooked kitchen waste in 2026?
No. Taipei City no longer distinguishes pig-feed kitchen waste from compost kitchen waste from January 1, 2026; New Taipei City says household kitchen waste need not be separated into raw and cooked from the same date, and is handed over together to the kitchen waste bin after draining. This responds to the central government's policy banning household kitchen waste for pig feed.
Can chicken or pork bones go in kitchen waste?
Not in New Taipei: animal bones and hard shells go in a designated garbage bag as general garbage. The kitchen waste items announced by Taipei list fish, shrimp, meat, offal and shellfish shells, but do not separately mention "bones"; if you are unsure, call 02-2720-8889 ext. 7284 to ask the Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection.
Can raw or expired meat go in kitchen waste?
In Taipei, yes: the announcement states that fresh or cooked meat and expired food are all accepted, but the outer packaging must be removed. In New Taipei, no: uncooked raw meat, raw offal and products made from them are not kitchen waste and go in general garbage; only cooked meat and expired food (with packaging removed) are kitchen waste.
Why does New Taipei say durian husks are kitchen waste, but Taipei says they are not?
New Taipei lists durian husks and coconut shells under fruit peel and shells, but households that cannot cut them up must halve them, put them in a designated garbage bag and hand them to the garbage truck. Taipei explains that after these two kinds of shells are recycled they need separate crushing, so bag them separately and hand them to the recycling truck for free collection, and do not mix them with kitchen waste or garbage. The two cities' processing equipment differs, so follow the rules of the city you live in.
Last updated: 2026-10-30
This article was compiled by SOSfix editors from public information and is for general reference only. For your own case, contact the Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection or the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department and your local sanitation team.
Sources
- Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection: cooperation items for household kitchen waste recycling (updated 2026-01-06; verified 2026-10-30, in Chinese): from January 1, 2026 pig-feed and compost kitchen waste are no longer separated, items accepted, collected at the same time and place as garbage, mixing in garbage or odds and ends may be fined NT$1,200 to NT$6,000, coconut and durian shells bagged separately for the recycling truck, odds and ends must not be mixed in, ext. 7284.
- Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection: full household kitchen waste recycling Q&A (updated 2026-08-06, in Chinese): kitchen waste items, sugarcane bagasse and Chinese herbal medicine residue recycled as kitchen waste, expired seasonings can be recycled, waste cooking oil goes to resource recycling, cat litter goes in general garbage, non-household sources producing 30 kg or more per day must hand it to private operators.
- Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection: explanation of the household kitchen waste recycling policy (updated 2026-08-06, in Chinese): kitchen waste is dewatered in pre-treatment at three incinerators and then composted for reuse.
- New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department: from January 1, 2026, New Taipei household kitchen waste collection no longer requires separating raw and cooked (issued 2025-12-29, updated 2026-01-06, in Chinese): central government bans household kitchen waste for pig feed from 2026, amended announcement of putting-out and collection methods, reuse and partial incineration, positive list of parties in the 2026 buffer period, bones, hard shells, raw meat and offal are not kitchen waste, collection may be refused if the rules are not met.
- New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department: kitchen waste sorting method (updated 2026-07-07, in Chinese): 14 categories of kitchen waste items, handling of coconut shells, durian husks and sugarcane peel, bagasse 10 cm or smaller, powders mixed with water, branches, bones, hard shells, raw meat, chopsticks and toothpicks must not be put in.
- New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department: frequently asked questions on kitchen waste recycling (in Chinese): in line with the central policy, household kitchen waste need not be separated into raw and cooked from January 1, 2026.
- Executive Yuan meeting agenda: adjusting the policy of feeding kitchen waste to pigs (2025-12-04, Ministry of Agriculture report, attached PDF explainer on adjusting the policy, in Chinese): African swine fever case in Wuqi, Taichung on October 22, 2025, full ban on feeding kitchen waste to pigs with a final deadline of December 31, 2026, during the transition animal-based feed is limited to business kitchen waste and the like, household kitchen waste is prohibited, sanitation team kitchen waste may not be auctioned to pig farmers.
- National laws and regulations database (全國法規資料庫): Waste Disposal Act (amended July 15, 2026, in Chinese): Article 12, authority to set sorting and putting-out rules; Article 50, fine of NT$1,200 to NT$100,000 and repeated fines per occurrence.
Related reading: Taipei and New Taipei Trash Bag Prices and Where to Buy · Used Cooking Oil Disposal in Taipei & New Taipei: Recycling
