Under the umbrella of the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP), Taiwan and the United States have finalized plans for a state-of-the-art facility for livestock waste management�one of the most serious environmental problems in Asia. The Environmental Center for Livestock Waste Management (ECLWM) will be located in southern Taiwan at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) in close proximity to the country�s hog-raising industry. One important function of ECLWM will be to provide training on livestock waste handling to participants from Taiwan and other Asian economies. In addition, the center will serve as a working U.S. technology showcase for modern waste handling equipment.

On May 25, representatives of five U.S. universities�Illinois Institute of Technology, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University, Oregon State University, and Purdue University� signed memoradums of understanding (MOUs) with NPUST to provide ongoing support for the center. The university professors, under the leadership of Dr. Richard Vetter, developed the ECLWM�s innovative livestock waste handling system and research agenda.

An array of participants have made the project possible. US-AEP catalyzed the effort, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), Equipment Manufacturers Institute (Chicago, Illinois), A.O. Smith Engineered Storage Products Company (DeKalb, Illinois), Aeromix Inc. (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Babcock Water Engineering (Irvine, California), Chicago Industrial Pump Company (Chicago, Illinois), and the five U.S. universities, all working jointly through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). NPUST is providing the necessary personnel, land, and housing to operate and maintain the center, while U.S. equipment manufacturers will donate equipment and services for the project. The ECLWM will upgrade technologies used in Asia for livestock waste management and provide sales opportunities for U.S. companies.

More than 100 people assembled at NPUST for the center�s signing ceremony May 25. Brief remarks were given by Randy Yamada of the US-AEP Secretariat, AIT Director Darryl Johnson, Taiwan�s National Policy Advisor Paul Sun, Taiwan Council of Agriculture Vice Chairman Ling Shiang-Nung, NPUST President Liu Shan-da, Dr. Ronald Miner of Oregon State University, and Mr. Rick Jones of A.O. Smith Engineered Storage Products Company.

The center will be in operation by December 31, 1998, and will initially focus on swine waste handling, since this is Taiwan�s most pressing livestock waste issue. In future years, however, the project will expand to cover poultry and cattle waste systems.

Joint efforts among US-AEP�s Environmental Technology Network for Asia (ETNA), Office of Technology Cooperation in Taiwan, and Environmental Exchange Program (EEP) with the China Waste Minimization Association enabled Mr. Paul Lee, Pollution Control Division Chief of Taiwan Power (Taipower) and Mr. Frank Hsu, also of Taipower, to attend a conference on fly ash management in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and visit Separation Technologies, Inc. (STI) of Boston, Massachusetts. Taipower seeks to update their boiler technologies to meet increasingly restrictive NOx emissions standards. Unfortunately, the resultant fly ash from these lower-temperature boilers contains levels of carbon that reduce its value for secondary uses. If treated with separation technologies, however, the fly ash can be used as a high-quality feedstock for the cement industry. Though Taipower had already received a proposal from at least one European firm to provide this technology, Jennifer Huang of US-AEP/Taiwan contacted ETNA to search for a U.S. provider. ETNA�s Alex Izadpanah researched the issue and identified STI of Boston as a leader in this area. Since STI was presenting at the Pittsburgh conference, arrangements were initiated to have the Taipower officials attend the conference and visit an STI installation at the Brayton Power Plant in Massachusetts. The China Waste Minimization Association and EEP cost-shared the expenses of the two Taipower officials.

US-AEP�s Environmental Exchange Program (EEP) and Clean Technology and Environmental Management (CTEM) initiative, in coordination with the Thai Ministry of Industry, sponsored a regional training course focused on environmental management systems and clean technologies for the textile industry. The one-week course, held May 25-29 in Bangkok, Thailand, included 46 participants from industry, government, and NGOs in Indonesia, India, Thailand, and the Philippines. Presentations by experts from Clemson University's renowned Textiles Apparel Research Center introduced specific clean technologies and pollution prevention opportunities for the textile industry�s three sectors: 1) dyeing, printing, and finishing; 2) spinning, weaving, and knitting; and 3) clothing assembly (cut and sewn) operations. Participants also had the opportunity to conduct hands-on assessments of Thai textile mills and design EMS systems based on their observations.