This project, executed from 15 January 2016 to 31 December 2017, aimed to audit designated enterprises responsible for funding recycling (henceforth ‘responsible enterprises’) in terms of their sales/imported volume of regulated objects according to the ‘Waste Disposal Act’ enacted by the Resource Recycling Fund Management Board of Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan (EPA). The target number of responsible enterprises to be audited was 1,000. By the end of this final report, 1,005 enterprises had been audited and examined, reaching 100.50% of the targeted number of enterprises. The accumulated amount of fees to be collected from the enterprises audited through on-site inspections was NTD75,612,807, the revenue-to-cost ratio was 2.29. Among the 1,005 enterprises of which the on-site inspections were conducted, 107 enterprises overpaid the recycling-clearance-disposal fees and 462 enterprises underpaid the fees. By 31 December 2017, 447 out of the 462 enterprises (i.e., 96.75% of the enterprises) had submitted fee deficiencies. Of the total accumulated sum of fee deficiencies, NTD65,754,888 (i.e., 86.96%) was collected, which was 1.99 times of the project’s expenses. Moreover, this project assisted in urging responsible enterprises with fee deficiencies to settle their payments through the years, of which 96.57% did, adding over NTD430,000,000 to the Recycling Fund. Comments collected from the audited responsible enterprises were statistically analysed for policymakers’ reference regarding future policymaking. Based on the executed results in this project, we suggest that the EPA continue to audit and inspect responsible enterprises that had previously underpaid the recycling-clearance-disposal fees, so that the EPA can emphasize its determination to implement the policy and to ensure fairness among the audited enterprises. Moreover, during the on-site inspections, auditor should also promote regulations related to the enterprises and facilitate them to provide the correct data on the sales/imported volume of regulated objects on the EPA website. Following these recommendations will not only increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the collection of recycling-clearance-disposal fees but also maintain a complete and up-to-date database for managerial purposes.

Responsible enterprises, Recycling-clearance-disposal fee, Revenues to Cost ratio