A centralized joss paper incineration project was proposed to reduce outdoor burning activities during rituals and provide the public with an environmental means for burning joss papers, thereby maintaining the air quality of Pingtung County.
After the promotion of relevant policies to centralize joss paper incineration in the county, the public expressed their concern about joss papers being incinerated together with regular trash. Accordingly, the county government applied for funds from the Environmental Protection Administration of the Executive Yuan in 2019 to construct centralized joss paper burners, which were planned to begin operating on September 11, 2020. The burners are designated to joss paper incarnation only, thereby addressing the aforesaid public concern and reducing outdoor burning activities. The ultimate goal is to attain a balance between religious practice and environmental protection by implementing and revising relevant measures to gradually overturn the public custom of burning excessive joss papers during rituals. The trial runs of the constructed burners began on December 25, 2020, and a third-party assessment center was commissioned to analyze the exhaust composition on December 28, 2020. The results revealed that the particulate concentration was 2 mg/Nm3, which was 25 times lower than the standard threshold (regal standard: 50 mg/Nm3; contract standard: 30 mg/Nm3); the sulfur oxide concentration was 5 ppm, which was 60 times lower than the standard threshold (legal standard: 300 pm; contract standard: 125 ppm); the nitrogen oxide concentration was 46 ppm; which was 7.6 times lower than the standard threshold (legal standard 350 ppm; contract standard: 150 ppm); the carbon monoxide concentration was 243 ppm, which was 3.23 times lower than the standard threshold (legal standard: 2000 ppm; contract standard: 500 ppm); the dioxin concentration was 0.049 ng-TEQ/Nm3, which was 10.2 times lower than the standard threshold (legal and contract standard: 0.5 ng-TEQ/Nm3). The analysis results confirmed that all indicators met the required standards and were considerably lower than the thresholds.
The Jade Emperor Temple, a representative temple in Pingtung County, became the first local religious body to support the environmental endeavor., The temple sealed its burners on December 15, 2020, and during the 2021 and 2022 Lunar New Year, more than 300 tons of joss papers were accumulated from temple worshipers. Between May 4, 2021 and May 3, 2022, a 1-year project was initiated for centralized incineration. During the project, 1278 tons of joss papers were collected, which was 4.7 times the amount collected in the previous year (273 tons). A total of 1109 tons of joss papers were incinerated, thereby reducing the total suspended particulate by 3.92 tons, PM10 by 3.46 tons, PM2.5 by 3.05 tons, sulfur oxide by 0.03 tons, nitrogen oxide by 0.77 tons, and carbon monoxide by 33.9 tons. Public support for the endeavor substantially improved the air quality of Pingtung County during ritual periods.
Before the project ended, a second exhaust composition analysis was performed in March 2022. The analysis results revealed a particulate concentration of 0.4 mg/Nm3, sulfur oxide concentration of 5 ppm, nitrogen oxide concentration of 46 ppm, carbon monoxide concentration of 16 ppm, and dioxin concentration of 0.049 ng-TEQ/Nm3. These findings were similar to those from the first analysis, verifying that the burners retained their effectiveness in pollution control. The management tasks of the burners were transferred to selected service providers on April 28, 2022, and training was conducted to help them become familiar with the management tasks. The transfer process was completed on May 3, 2022. The subsequent operation and management of the burners will be fully overseen by the service providers.
