It was found that the waste burned at the bank of Laochieh creek had destroyed the scenery of the river. More seriously, since hazardous industrial waste was mixed up with ordinary waste, the burning of the waste had polluted the river.

     The Toufen industrial zone in Miaoli County was developed in 1976 and specialized in petrochemicals. In 1981 investigation was limited to three factories. These three factories had classified and handled their waste in different ways. For instance, the plastic waste containers and waste metals were collected regularly by merchants; wooden boxes and waste papers were burned at out-of-the-way corners. The owners of these factories considered that solid waste was not a problem for them. However, at the nearby Chunan ?? industrial zone, two plastic companies had been emitting mercury-bearing waste since 1965-1966 and seriously polluted the Chungkang river.

     Another investigation over 18 industrial zones was carried out in 1989-1990. It was found that 501 firms (or 47.6 percent) had enterprise waste transported by garbage trucks belonging to the industrial zones; 320 factories (or 30.4 percent) entrusted disposal to agencies, and 232 (or 22 percent) disposed their own waste. It was also found that the factories already paid considerable attention to the treatment of wastewater, but they still had no idea how to handle the enterprise waste, particularly the hazardous kind. The factories usually stored the sludge up to a certain amount and then paid for the transportation by private agencies. However, the destination of the sludge was never known. For solid waste, very few firms had done intermediate treatments before putting it on the garbage trucks.

     This study made some suggestions. First, the government should provide more guidance to the establishment of waste disposal agencies, for most of the enterprises were not capable to handle the waste properly. Second, more education should be given to the firms about the treatment of industrial waste. Third, the industrial zone's managerial center should play an important role in controlling enterprise waste in addition to wastewater. Fourth, enterprises engaging in the same trade should be encouraged to set up common facilities of waste disposal in order to reduce cost. Finally, it is important to establish an idea of waste minimization among the industries. (Lo Shang-lien and Lin Cheng-fang, 1990: 75, 115, 164-165)