慈善救濟與回收：台灣慈濟無酬動機回收之個案研究 - 政大學術集成

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(1)Master’s Thesis 慈善救濟與回收：台灣慈濟無酬動機回收之個案研究 Compassion, relief and recycling A case study of Tzu Chi in the Taiwanese recycling sector, focusing on incentive dynamics. 治. 政 Ralph Oomen Student: 大. 立. Advisor: Prof. Tang Ching-Ping. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. 中華民國 105 年 07 月. Ch. i July 2016 U n engchi. v.

(2) 論文題目 A case study of Tzu Chi in the Taiwanese recycling sector, focusing on incentive dynamics. 研究生：. Student: Ralph Oomen. 指導教授：. 立. Advisor: Prof. Tang Ching-Ping. 治國立政治大學政大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 亞太研究英語碩士學位學程碩士論文. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. e nAgThesis chi. i n U. v. Submitted to International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies National Chengchi University In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master in China Studies.

(3) Acknowledgments For their helpful comments, insights and tips while writing my thesis, I would like to thank my committee members, assistant-professor Chang Kaiju ( 張鎧如 ), assistantprofessor Ssu-Hsien Chen (陳思先) and my advisor professor Tang Ching-Ping (湯京平). It is quite clear that without their input and help this inquiry would not have gotten any further than my initial interest in the topic. I am truly grateful for their advice and timerelated sacrifices made on my behalf. Also, I would like to thank the volunteers at the Tzu Chi Foundation, especially at the. 政治大 information, and moreover 立 helped translate on the spot where necessary. I greatly Neihu recycling plant, who were incredibly welcoming when I asked them for help and. ‧ 國. 學. enjoyed my visits there, and would recommend anyone that is interested to spend some of their time volunteering. Also the people at Da.Ai Technology deserve a mentioning for their warm welcoming. I need to especially thank mr. Wu Hanyo ( 吳翰有 ) who. ‧. introduced me in both and helped me find the right contacts in the labyrinth that. sit. y. Nat. organizations often are to outsiders.. io. al. er. Then, I would like to thank my Chinese teacher Elise Lin (林湘涵) for her help with. n. translating and tips on the procedure when I was in dire need of support. She has. Ch. i n U. v. moreover helped me find a thesis title in Chinese, for which I am very grateful.. engchi. Finally, for financial support throughout my studies at NCCU, I need to thank both the Taiwanese Ministry of Education, who have generously given me the financial means to study in Taiwan, and my parents, who further funded the expensive hobby that is studying abroad.. i.

(4) 中華民國2016年07月 July 2016 Abstract This study looks at the role of an NGO, the Tzu Chi Foundation, in the institutions of the Taiwanese recycling sector. The Tzu Chi Foundation has since relatively early on recycled in Taiwan and is a unique example globally; MSW-related literature has no reports of NGOs actively recycling themselves. This thesis views the role from a. 政治大. Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) perspective, focusing on incentive dynamics and institutions in the sector.. 立. These incentive dynamics are linked to interests, then activities, which in turn are related. ‧ 國. 學. to recycling success, which here is measured in terms of ecological impact. It is argued that for the Foundation, hierarchical exclusion takes place, where the ideology incentive. ‧. dictates that it does not fiercely compete in the recycling market, but instead focuses on improving environmental practice. Results include the quantity that is collected and. Nat. sit. y. sorted became less overtime for both paper and total recyclables, as the ideological. io. er. incentive to collect recycling weakened. Volunteers are also motivated by the ideology, and relatedness incentives, which enabled the organization to grow large rapidly. The. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. whole indicates the potential for ideologically motivated NGOs, but with a side note that. engchi. ideology is hard to control or replicate.. Whereas not unexpected for an non-for-profit organization, its use of non-material incentives allow it to provide help towards improvement of recycling, and other authors that plead for increased opportunities for informal sector recycling in MSWM development are supported by this paper’s results. While not directly visible through the conceptual framework used in this thesis, it is also concluded that its activities provide stimulation for other parties in a recycling sector; however, some problems are also observed considering low-income recyclable collectors known as scavengers. As a result, a framework for studying a recycling sector from an incentives perspective is also suggested. ii.

(5) Contents Acknowledgments................................................................................................................ i Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Key words ........................................................................................................................... v List of Tables and Figures................................................................................................... v Tables .............................................................................................................................. v Figures ............................................................................................................................ vi 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Aim of the thesis ....................................................................................................... 3. 治政大 2 Literature review .............................................................................................................. 5 立 2.1 Institutions: organizations and markets ..................................................................... 6 1.2 Structure of this thesis ............................................................................................... 3. ‧ 國. 學. 2.2 Incentives .................................................................................................................. 7 2.3 Recycling- & MSW systems ................................................................................... 11. ‧. 3 Methodology .................................................................................................................. 17 3.1 Research questions .................................................................................................. 17. Nat. sit. y. 3.2 Conceptual framework ............................................................................................ 18. io. er. 3.2.1 Operationalization ............................................................................................ 22 3.3 Methods ................................................................................................................... 24. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. 3.3.1 Data ................................................................................................................... 24. engchi. 3.3.2 Collection.......................................................................................................... 26 3.3.3 Analysis ............................................................................................................ 28 4 Backgrounds .................................................................................................................. 29 4.1 Taiwanese MSW ..................................................................................................... 29 4.1.1 A chronology of policies and incentives .......................................................... 29 4.1.2 Collection and processing ................................................................................. 33 4.2 The Tzu Chi Foundation ......................................................................................... 38 4.2.1 Beliefs and values ............................................................................................. 39 4.2.2 Organizational structure ................................................................................... 40 5 Case description: Tzu Chi’s recycling ........................................................................... 43 iii.

(6) 5.1 Early recycling ........................................................................................................ 43 5.2 The formation of Da.ai Technology Corporation.................................................... 47 5.3 Recycling since 2006: new goals ............................................................................ 49 5.4 A new model: Cooperation in Pingdong City ......................................................... 52 6 Analyses ......................................................................................................................... 55 6.1 Combining case and context ................................................................................... 55 6.1.1 Between 1988 and 1997 ................................................................................... 56 6.1.2 Between 1998 and 2006 ................................................................................... 59 6.1.3 2006 and after ................................................................................................... 61 6.1.4 In Pingdong City............................................................................................... 64. 政治大 7 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 68 立 6.2 Incentive dynamics & further effects ...................................................................... 64. 7.1 Answering the research questions ........................................................................... 68. ‧ 國. 學. 7.2 Contributions ........................................................................................................... 71 7.2.1 Academic contributions .................................................................................... 71. ‧. 7.2.2 Practical contributions ...................................................................................... 72. y. Nat. 7.3 Future research ........................................................................................................ 73. sit. 7.4 Limitations .............................................................................................................. 73. er. io. References ......................................................................................................................... 75. al. iv n C Appendix 1: Methods data table.................................................................................... 86 hengchi U Appendix 2: Interview & TCQ quotes (continued on next four pages) ........................ 89 n. Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 86. Appendix 3: Recycling statistics table (Continued on next two pages) ........................ 97. iv.

(7) Key words Incentive theory Institutional context MSW. – Municipal Solid Waste. MSWM. – Municipal Solid Waste Management. NGO. – Non Governmental Organization. Recycling Tzu Chi Foundation. 政治大. 立List of Tables and Figures ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Tables. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. Table 1 Goals of MSWM for sustainability - Source: Baud et al. (2001) ........................ 11 Table 2 Ways of adding value. - Source: Wilson et al. (2006) ......................................... 13 Table 3 Successfulness of recycling programs. - Source: Mohamed et al. (2012a) ......... 15 Table 4 - Conceptual framework. Source: own. ............................................................... 21 Table 5 - Ecological Sustainability (Recycling Success). Source: Baud et al. (2001) ..... 23 Table 6 MSW composition in Taiwan - Source: EPA website (n.d) ................................ 23 Table 7 MSW collection during the 1990s and early 2000s - Source: Tsai and Chou [2006) ........................................................................................................................................... 30 Table 8 – Model for Tzu Chi’s actions over 1988-1997. Source: own............................. 58 Table 9 - Model for Tzu Chi’s actions over 1998-2006. Source: own. ............................ 60 Table 10 - Model for Tzu Chi after 2006. Note: separated by- and related to actions. Source: own. ..................................................................................................................... 62 Table 11 - Model for Tzu Chi in Pingdong City. Source: own........................................ 64 Table 12 Methods data table. Source: own. ..................................................................... 86 Table 13 - Quotes from interviews and TCQ. Source: various. ........................................ 89 Table 14 - Taiwanese recycling & Tzu Chi: statistics. *: statistics unavailable. **: calculations not possible due to lacking data. Source: own. Statistics obtained from Taiwan EPA and Tzu Chi Foundation Annual Reports 1995-2015 ................................. 97. Ch. engchi. v. i n U. v.

(8) Figures Figure a - Informal recycling hierarchy - Source: Wilson et al. (2006)………… ……..12 Figure b - structure of the Taiwanese recycling sector. Source: adapted from Bor et al. (2004)………………………………………………………………………………...…..19 Figure c - Taiwan's recycling sector - Source: Bor et al. (2004)………………………...31 Figure d - Total MSW disposed of: 7.228.217 - Source: own figure. Statistics: EPA (2016a) ..............................................................................................................................31 Figure e Total MSW disposed of: 7.957.601 - Source: own figure. Statistics: EPA (2016a) ............................................................................................................................. 31 Figure f - Total MSW disposed of: 7.828.685 - Source: own figure. Statistics: EPA (2016a) ............................................................................................................................. 31 Figure g -Total MSW disposed of: 8.333.806 - Source: own figure. Statistics: EPA (2016a) ............................................................................................................................. 31. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Figure h - Total recyclables collected and sorted by government agencies. Source: own. Statistics: EPA (2001-2015); Lu et al (2006) (1997-2000) ……………..………………35. ‧. Figure i – Daily MSW per capita. Source: own. Statistics: EPA (2001-2015); Lu et al. (2006) (1996-2000)………………………………………………………………………35. sit. y. Nat. Figure j - Tzu Chi's recycling. Numbers are in kilograms. Source: own. Statistics: Tzu Chi Yearbook (1995-2015)…………………………………………………………..…..48. er. io. Figure k - Tzu Chi's recycling as a percentage of recycling by Taiwanese government agencies. Source: own. Statistics: Tzu Chi Yearbook (1995-2015); EPA (2001-2015); Lu et al (2006).………………………………………………………………………………49. al. n. iv n C Figure l - Number of Tzu Chi h volunteers e n g cactive h i inUTaiwanese recycling. Source: own. Statistics: Tzu Chi Yearbook (1997-2015)................................................................50 Figure m - Recycling in Pingdong over 2008-2015. Source: own. Statistics: EPA Pingdong County Government (2009-2016)…………………………………………….51. vi.

(9) Abbreviations EPA:. Environmental Protection Administration. EPR:. Extended Producer Responsibility. MSW:. Municipal Solid Waste Management. MSWM:. Municipal Solid Waste Management. NGO:. Non-Governmental Organization. PAYT:. “Pay As You Throw”, a system in which polluters pay by the amount of garbage, either in terms of volume or mass, disposed of.. Research and Development Small- or Medium Enterprise. y. Nat. sit. io. Tzu Chi Quarterly, an English-language publication by the Tzu Chi Foundation. n. al. er. TCQ:. ‧ 國. SME:. Polyethylene terephthalate. ‧. R&D:. 學. PET:. 立. 政治大. Ch. engchi. vii. i n U. v.

(10) 1 Introduction Kathmandu, 13 May 2015. Several days ago, a serious earthquake shocked the country of Nepal and left hundreds of people dead and thousands homeless. In response, the Tzu Chi Compassionate Relief Foundation, or the Tzu Chi Foundation in short, sent its volunteers and medical experts to help out on the ground almost immediately. Today, tents, blankets and tarps arrive to provide temporary shelter to those who lost the roof over their heads, aside from food and medical supplies that already arrived days ago. Thousands more materials are distributed over the following few weeks to provide further relief (“Nepal. 政治大 This, of course, is an impressive example of relief aid provided by the Buddhist Tzu Chi 立 Earthquake Relief Update May 10-May 25” 2015).. Foundation. What is perhaps more impressive, however, is where many of the materials. ‧ 國. 學. that were provided come from; before their existence as tents, blankets and tarps: these were namely titled ‘waste’. A large share of Tzu Chi’s relief materials comes not from. ‧. donations or secondhand materials, but from recycled materials (Vanloo 2015). The. io. sit. supported by its presence in many different layers of society.. y. Nat. organization as such proves its ingenuity when it comes to solving problems, therein. er. Tzu Chi’s homeland, Taiwan, has namely suffered since the introduction of plastics and. al. n. iv n C h e n goption viable long-term c h i inUthe densely. the country’s rapid industrialization from the consequences of too much waste. Landfills no longer provide a. populated lands and. incineration is not always widely embraced either, not in the last place because of air pollution and related health effects. Several government policies, involving incentives for recycling and disincentives for producing waste, have led to decreases in the annual per capita generation of Municipal Solid Waste, (hereafter: MSW) increased waste separation, and an overall increased recycling rate (Lu et al. 2006). Aside from the actors that are common in recycling sectors across the world however, the Tzu Chi Foundation as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has also provided an important- though sometimes unclear- contribution. The Foundation’s list of facilities sports over 5,000 recycling points manned by ‘tens of thousands of recycling volunteers’ 1.

(11) around Taiwan according to its website (“Environmental Protection” n.d.). They base around the ‘refuse - reduce – reuse – recycle’ priority list, meaning that aside from recycling they promote less use of materials, and refurbish and resell household items and appliances that have been discarded or donated. This thesis focuses mostly on the Tzu Chi’s role in two streams of recyclables; paper and plastics. Both entail different ways of processing, recycling, re-using and collecting. Using Tzu Chi as an example, it will analyzes the benefits as well as downsides of having an NGO in the recycling sector for these two streams, over a non-NGO (thus private, public, or a mix between those two). From a practitioner’s perspective, both in- and out. 政治大. of Taiwan, either on the policy side or on the not-for-profit side, an in-depth analysis of this situation provides valuable lessons on policies and practices that work or do not work.. 立. However, also from an academic point of view, the Tzu Chi Foundation’s role in. ‧ 國. 學. Taiwan’s recycling sector provides an interesting and unique example as to how an NGO can help working towards environmental goals. Provided the Foundation’s unique. ‧. characteristics in terms of operation, combined with a unique combination of government recycling policies, there are many interesting perspectives one can take, and it is a unique. y. Nat. io. sit. case to study how an NGO can provide value- and tension- in a MSW environment.. er. Secondly, the theoretical basis this thesis uses for analysis is institutional- and incentive. al. n. iv n C already by f.e. Wilson (1973), Frey h eand i U and Tang and Tang (2014). This n gJegen c h(2001). theory, consisting of behavioral- and cognitive economics, extended to public governance. theory is very much applicable in this situation: an NGO, and people volunteering or. working for an NGO, clearly differentiate themselves from private sector and public sector workers in terms of incentives. At the same time, when looking at Taiwan’s history in recycling, it becomes clear that Tzu Chi was an early adopter of recycling practice and currently would by most standards be considered as a good recycler. This thesis wants to explore the relationship between both the incentives and this contribution further.. 2.

(12) 1.1 Aim of the thesis The aims of this thesis are several. The main aim is to further understand the Tzu Chi Foundation’s role in the institutions of the Taiwanese recycling sector, and subsequently further develop knowledge on good practice in MSW, by analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of having an NGO deeply intertwined in recycling. The analysis in this thesis is done from an incentive theory angle. A clear thing at first sight is that the incentives and motivations for an NGO to engage in recycling are fundamentally different from private sector and public sector institutions. This thesis wants to explore this difference further and see how it causes an NGO’s presence in the recycling sector to. 政治大 As such, it hopes to lead to further understanding of NGO’s potential in other countries’ 立 sectors, too; moreover, it hopes to further the understanding of incentive dynamics when affect recycling success.. ‧ 國. 學. an NGO operates in a sector with public- and private parties, something which is quite typical to the Taiwanese recycling sector. It is hoped that both practice and academia can. ‧. develop further based on the research done.. y. Nat. io. sit. 1.2 Structure of this thesis. er. This thesis document will proceed as follows. After this introduction, literature will be. al. n. iv n C U different branches is analyzed: h e nofgroughly existing body of literature. Literature c h i three. reviewed to see how this thesis can first profit from- and subsequently add to- the. institutional theory, used to outline the different actors in recycling; incentive theory,. which will be the main analytical means; finally, MSWM-related literature, to understand the parties and actions that are typical to a recycling sector. The literature will then be used to set out the directions for the research in Chapter 3, Research Methods. Firstly, research questions are defined. Then, a framework is provided, basing off the literature analyzed in Chapter 2. Thirdly, data that will be used is to be discussed, and finally, contributions to both academic literature- and practice are discussed.. 3.

(13) Then, Chapter 4 provides background information regarding the Taiwanese recycling sector and the Tzu Chi Foundation in general. Both of these are necessary to gain a full understanding of the case, which is described in Chapter 5. The Tzu Chi Foundation case was constructed using interviews and gathered documents; a table and source referencing provide insight in where the information described was collected. Fourthly, the case will be analyzed using incentive theory in Chapter 6 and finally, this will lead to general conclusions and recommendations in Chapter 7.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 4. i n U. v.

(14) 2 Literature review This literature review will survey literature on three important points. Firstly, it will summarize and criticize literature on institutions and the incentive theories used to explain public governance to forge a pair of theoretical glasses for study. Secondly, it will survey literature regarding recycling systems and NGOs roles in it; this is done in order to be able to more accurately apply the theories. Some articles are discussed on a perarticle basis (e.g. Tang and Tang, (2014); Baud et al. (2001); Wilson et al. (2006)) to observe their frameworks and critically evaluate their studies. In the theoretical subchapter, firstly an overview is provided of institutional theory. 政治大 study by Tang and Tang 立(2014), who perform a case study on a land ownership case. written by authors such as Selznick (1943) Ménard (1995), Hodgson (2006). Then, a. related to ecological preservation, is taken as a basis for incentive theories. Their study. ‧ 國. 學. looks at incentive theory and uses this subsequently to analyze incentive dynamics in the case; they observe several of the possible dynamics they pointed out in the literature, but. ‧. not all. Specifically, we will look into crowding effects too, a type of incentive dynamic. y. Nat. that was in-depth analyzed and summarized by Frey and Jegen (2001) and viewed from a. sit. distance seems to occur in Tzu Chi’s case. Finally here, Bussell and Forbes summarize. er. io. the literature regarding motivations for volunteering, something that is quite obviously. al. relevant to the case as Tzu Chi’s recycling centers strongly bases on volunteers.. n. iv n C h e netgal.c h(2006) Both Baud et al. (2001) and Wilson i Uanalyze recycling and MSWM in developing countries; they provide input for this thesis in terms of means of analysis for. recycling systems. Moreover, Taiwan, generally considered a developed country, adds to their body of knowledge: it is an exemplar state when considering their conclusions and recommendations, and their rapid development in the last decades of the 20th century. Mohamad et al. (2012a) and Mohamad et al. (2012b) will be analyzed; they look at the role of religious organizations in Malaysia’s recycling, a place where Tzu Chi too plays a big role in the recycling sector.. 5.

(15) 2.1 Institutions: organizations and markets Looking at organizations and institutions requires proper definitions of the terms. Several authors have focused on defining institutions and their nature. They indicate the importance of ‘rules’ in this definition; a common set of –potentially codifiable- social rules is a crucial part of a social structure that can be called an ‘institution’ or ‘institutional arrangement’, two terms that are generally used interchangeably (Hodgson, 2006; Ménard, 1995). These rules, as well as sanctions when they are broken, may either be explicit or implicit, with the latter often basing off habits and involving less measurable punishments such as social disapproval. (Hodgson 2006) However, it seems. 政治大. generally agreed upon that institutions are observable through behavior (Hodgson 2006; Ménard 1995). Organizations and markets, then, are specific subsets of institutions, as. 立. many authors indeed assert (Hodgson 2006; Ménard 1995; Maucourant and Plociniczak. ‧ 國. 學. 2013).. Organizations quite clearly have a more explicit, distinguishable membership than. ‧. markets do, and a defined structure with positions relating to coordination (Hodgson, 2006; Ménard 1995).. Selznick (1943), citing “A theory of Organization in Public. y. Nat. sit. Administration” by Gaus from 1936, defines an organization as ‘a system of consciously. al. er. io. coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons’. Some authors (e.g. Ménard 1995;. n. Selznick 1943) argue that common goals and action are a requirement for an institution to. Ch. i n U. v. be labeled as an organization. However, Hodgson (2006) fights such an idea stating that. engchi. internal conflicts and tensions are almost omnipresent in organizations. He does say that taking organization as actors is possible as the result of an abstraction for analytical purposes, something that is done in this thesis. On a practical level, it is clear that the Tzu Chi Foundation as a whole has different goals and outcomes from its activities in the recycling sector than its individual members, and that as such for analytical purposes it is highly useful to view Tzu Chi as an actor. This abstraction will be made to understand the role the organization plays in the sector, but with careful attention to its individual members.. 6.

(16) Markets are different institutions than organizations are; firstly in that they theoretically have reversible positions, i.e. a buyer can become a seller, and secondly in that a market is based around competition (Ménard 1995). It is clearly a more self-organizing, organic form of institution; but how to define it remains difficult. A modern interpretation of Polanyi’s study of economy and institutions define the economy as ‘the interaction between man and his social environment’ and point out that not all mechanisms of exchange are markets, especially when lacking coherency, but that markets are indeed institutional constructions (Maucourant and Plociniczak 2013). As will be seen in later chapters, the exchange of recyclables in Taiwan indeed seems to be coherent and selforganizing, with many parties being both buyers and sellers.. 立. 2.2 Incentives. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Incentive theory originates from behavioral and cognitive economics, and focuses on external factors influencing behavior. Many different forms of incentives have over the. ‧. years been identified and studied extensively, across different fields, ranging in their definition from including non-material incentives, (Tang and Tang 2014; Frey and Jegen. sit. y. Nat. 2001; Wilson 1973) to exclusively material (mostly financial) incentives, such as Lyer et. io. al. er. al. (2007) The more broad interpretation of the term is taken in this thesis.. v. n. Tang and Tang (2014) focus on how context affects incentives, to understand the concept. Ch. i n U. of collaborative governance, and take incentives as a rather broad concept, in line with. engchi. Wilson (1973). They apply it within a setting of land conservation to understand the dynamics between different approaches to governance and different incentives. As such, they make an important step toward a framework towards, as they put it, understanding Alexis de Tocqueville’s (1945) motto “self-interest rightly understood”, something that is quite crucial for proper governance. Tang and Tang (2014) see three different approaches to governance; the first and most obvious being the regulatory one, which in case of land ownership involves using traditional government controls to prohibit certain uses of land or expropriate with compensation. This approach is mentioned to usually not be on friendly footing or sometimes possibly unethical, however, and often has legal, political and financial 7.

(17) obstacles. The second one relies on the market and placement of incentives, and carries the descriptive title “the voluntary approach”. Whereas this often is a more friendly approach, the final control rests with the sellers, and one landowner can block plans while the rest is willing to comply. A third identified approach accesses toolkits from either of these two where fitting, and is thus titled “the collaborative approach”. Whereas the term material incentives is most often measurable in monetary terms, nonmaterial incentives entail more difficult-to-measure motivators, subsequently split up by Wilson (1973) in purpose-drivers, such as ideology, pride, competence, selfdetermination, and solidary-drivers, such as relatedness, status and identity. (Tang and. 政治大. Tang 2014) Purpose-drivers are related to a feeling of satisfaction resulting from working towards a certain purpose, whereas solidary drivers relate to social benefits that can be. 立. either collective or individual. (Wilson 1973). ‧ 國. 學. Often, more than one incentive is in place, and rather than simply acting in a sum, they interact. (Tang and Tang 2014) Interaction effects between the abovementioned. ‧. incentives can be synergetic, crowding out, hierarchical exclusion or preemptive. Synergetic refers to effective reinforcement of incentives, thus aligning individuals. y. Nat. sit. towards a common goal. Crowding out is an effect in which, whereas incentives may be. al. er. io. mutually reinforcing at first, one takes a dominant role and washes out the effects of the. n. others. Hierarchical exclusion refers to placement of incentives in a hierarchy, where. Ch. i n U. v. actors are not concerned by the less fundamental incentives until the more fundamental. engchi. ones are satisfied first. Preemptive effects refer to early incentives ingraining themselves, and affecting actors’ stance towards any future incentives. Analyses of incentive dynamics as such attempts to capture the context of incentives, the subsequent interpretation of these incentives and finally the resulting effectiveness in terms of behavior. As a result, it provides an effective tool for local policy analyses, but also for larger level, more structural analyses as done in this thesis. We will here attempt to capture the incentive dynamics that affect the Tzu Chi Foundation, and resulting impacts on national recycling success. As a means of analysis, incentive dynamics requires qualitative research to interpret the surrounding and interpretation of an incentive. 8.

(18) However, whereas the differences, advantages and disadvantages are not always fully agreed upon in the socio-psychological and management fields, studies show general differences between decision-making and incentive effects for example when working in groups or as individuals (e.g. Michaelsen et al. 1989; Kameda et al. 1990; Garbers and Konradt 2013). The brief analysis of institutional theory earlier made clear that considering organizations in this context would require an abstraction; however, it is quite expectable that for many analyses involving incentive theory such an abstraction will only be helpful towards building a full understanding of the situation if applied carefully and with attention to individual members’ incentives.. 政治大. In the context of an NGO operating in the recycling sector, non-material incentives are important sorts of incentive to explore further; volunteers working for an NGO have, as. 立. opposed to private sector individuals, no direct financial incentives. Frey and Jegen (2002). ‧ 國. 學. explore the dynamics between external interventions and intrinsic incentives, combining economic and psychological perspectives in what they call “Motivation Crowding. ‧. Theory”. They study the earlier-mentioned crowding out effects and it’s opposite, crowding in effects, in particular, and point out how the former may undermine. sit. y. Nat. traditional understandings of the laws of economics. “Crowding-in” overlaps with what Tang and Tang (2014) term synergy, the former of which refers to material incentives. io. n. al. er. strengthen non-material incentives.. Ch. i n U. v. Whereas crowding-in is an effect that is in line with general assumptions rational actors. engchi. maximizing their outcome, crowding-out further describes how an external incentive may undermine an actor’s self-determination or self-confidence and as such reduce output or performance. On a market-level, the level of study for economists, this means that supply is reduced to below its original levels. Crowding effects thus play at a cross-section between psychology and economy. A change in motivation along a polar line running from intrinsic to extrinsic can be explained by either a) a change in preferences or b) a change in the perceived nature of the task, the task-environment or self-perception. As such, self-motivation is reduced by outside intervention (i.e. either rewards or punishments) and output or success is reduced; however, external interventions may also strengthen intrinsic motivation, which results in the crowding-in effects. 9.

(19) After outlining this theory, the authors continue to point out empirical evidence in the form of other studies, placing these in context of the theory. An example which is specifically important when discussing an NGO is a study by Freeman (1999). Freeman uncovered evidence that payment for volunteering work significantly reduces output, even so much that the amount of time individuals want to work more when rewarded does not make up for it. This would suggest that Tzu Chi members are likely to work more than when they would be extrinsically rewarded for their work. Crowding theory, in a market where an NGO is active as the Taiwanese recycling sector is, may be a very strong explanatory theory. With their article “Motivation Crowding. 政治大. Theory” Frey and Jegen (2002) do not only outline in detail the mechanics of the theory, but also do they provide a very convincing set of evidence to prove these mechanics.. 立. Moreover, it is an example of how a psychological theory, playing at the individual level,. ‧. ‧ 國. individuals.. 學. can quite easily be transferred to a market-wide environment involving a large set of. General incentives or motivations for volunteering behavior are analyzed and compared from literature by Bussell and Forbes (2001). They make the assertion that much of. y. Nat. sit. volunteering work is done out of altruism. However, as studied by Mueller (Bussell and. al. er. io. Forbes 2001), individuals also do volunteering for egoistic motives such as selective. n. incentives (i.e. social status or contact), having families in the subject group of. Ch. i n U. v. volunteering, and improvement of ‘human capital’ (knowledge and experience). The. engchi. second reason is perhaps less relevant to recycling work; the first and the last may be more relevant to Tzu Chi’s volunteers. They gather from the literature too that volunteering often is a means of expressing values. (Omoto and Snyder 1993; Bussell and Forbes 2001). As such, religious association creates a greater likelihood to volunteer, as it often allows people to express religious values. (Wymer 1997; Bussell and Forbes 2001) This value-expressive function is as such directly related to the ideological incentive. With the nature of Tzu Chi and its strong Buddhist value system, it is clear upfront that this plays a big role for many of the Taiwanese members to get involved in voluntary recycling work.. 10.

(20) 2.3 Recycling- & MSW systems Much and more has been discussed in the literature about Municipal Solid Waste Management, or MSWM. More specifically, recycling has been discussed widely, from a vast number of perspectives too. Many of these involve the consumer end of recycling; mostly how to use policy tools to motivate consumers to recycle or which attitudes and motivations support consumer recycling. This is less relevant here, however, as this thesis does not focus on the consumer aspects of recycling so much as the organizations behind recycling. A study by Baud et al. (2001) observed different MSWM systems in developing countries. 政治大 They firstly use a classification by an earlier study of the involved actors, which are the 立 public sector, the private sector, the small-scale informal private sector and local. and partnerships; specifically, in Chennai (India), Manila (Philippines) and Lima (Peru).. ‧ 國. 學. communities and their representatives (Community Based Organizations, CBOs). (by Baud and Schenk 1994; as cited in Baud et al. 2001) They evaluate the partnerships. ‧. between different groups of actors in terms of sustainable development, socio-economic equality and public health; they derive their criteria from different literature sources.. er. a2.l. i n U. v. Maximization of material re-use and recycling. Ch. engchi. 3. Controlled disposal of remaining waste legitimacy. sustainability economic. Ecological. 1. Minimal household waste production. n. Socio-. io. sit. y. Nat. Table 1 Goals of MSWM for sustainability - Source: Baud et al. (2001). 4. Good co-ordination within the SWM sector 5. Financially viability for both consumers and local governments 6. Provision of employment with a living wage and job security. Public health. 7. Attention to health and safety aspects 8. Greater effectiveness in terms of a healthy and clean urban environment 9. Legitimacy in the eyes of consumers and actors. 11.

(21) Several of their results may be relevant to this study. They found that local authorities strongly prefer controllability and accountability, and thus are more likely to cooperate with large-scale enterprises. Informal, small-scale actors are in the cases studied most often integrated into the MSWM systems by NGOs and CBOs, resulting in benefits on all three of the identified relevant types of goals. They thus plead for a more inclusive approach to also incorporate relationships with smaller, informal actors, so that local authorities may aim to work also with these parties. Wilson et al. (2006), too, plead for an integration of the informal waste sector into developing countries’ MSWM systems, while diving deeper into the informal sector.. 政治大. Their study initiates by defining the informal sector as “characterized by small-scale, labour-intensive, largely unregulated and unregistered, low-technology manufacturing or. 立. provision of services.” (Wilson et al. 2006). They too identify an unwillingness of the. ‧ 國. 學. formal sector to cooperate with the informal sector; they even go further by stating that the formal, mostly public sector often regards the informal sector as impossible to. Figure a - Informal recycling hierarchy - Source: Wilson et al... Nat. [2006). y. They identify a number of different. ‧. cooperate with and unhygienic.. sit. types of informal recycling: a). al. er. io. itinerant waste collectors, who. n. collect from households; b) street waste. picking,. who. Ch. recover. engchi. materials from the streets and bins;. i n U. v. c) municipal waste collectors, who recover. materials. from. collection/transportation. vehicles. and d) scavengers who recover recyclables from dumps. The more organized any of these are, the authors assert, the better-protected from exploitation they usually are. The different ‘layers’ or actors of the informal sector recycling chain identified are depicted in Figure a. Subsequently, they adapt a list of activities from several sources from the literature that occur in a recycling sector in general, not only in the informal sector. These activities are 12.

(22) separated and explained in how they add value along the recycling chain. This list is displayed in Table 2. Table 2 Ways of adding value. - Source: Wilson et al. (2006). Extracting and adding value. Explanation and comments. processes Collection. Identification and picking of items or collecting mixed waste allows the sector to acquire the waste and turn it into a resource. Most primary materials recovered from refuse, such as paper, plastics, rags, metal, glass, and food leftovers, constitute a commodity as they all have a market price. 政治大 differentiation, the higher the value of waste. For instance, if plastic is grouped into one 立 major category, its value is lower than when it is further separated into sub-categories of Main process that increases the value of the waste recovered. The deeper the sorting. 學. ‧ 國. Sorting. hard and soft, then HDPE, PET, LDPE, etc. Sorting according to color, size, shape and potential use or re-use of the materials so as to meet the end-users quality specifications. Additional volume adds value: larger volumes command higher per-unit prices. The. volume. greater the quantity, the better bargaining power the trader has. For small quantities,. ‧. Accumulation of. y. Nat. transactions costs, such as checking quality, arranging transport and paying the seller,. sit. reduce the profit margin. Industrial feed stocks are massive in volume. It follows that. Small manufacturing craftsmanship. al. iv n C U skills of informal recyclers to transform h e nthatguse Creation of micro-enterprises c htheispecial n. Pre-processing. er. io. storage space is required. For instance: washing, changing in shape-cutting, granulating, compacting, baling. recyclates into articles traded directly to the community and being affordable by the poor. Market. Proximity to markets where informal recyclers and traders conduct business allows for. intelligence. the flow of information which allows decisions to be made on accurate market prices, competitors, trading partners, etc. Trading. In informal or formal markets. Links to the secondary materials network are crucial. Traders should be financially capable to add and conserve value of recyclates. Difference between buying and selling should also provide buffer against risk. The authors explore the socio-economic aspects of incorporating an informal recycling sector. In the first, the authors point out a mutually beneficial relationship between 13.

(23) informal recycling systems and developing societies: they clean up waste, while providing jobs for vulnerable groups and capitalizing on a low-income, labor-intensive environment. The authors point out that where Western countries have abolished their informal sectors, they have subsequently struggled to achieve recycling rates of when their informal sectors were in place. The authors point out public policy has largely been negative towards the informal sector. This is either by repressing, neglecting, or colluding. However, they also point out, at the time of writing their article, there was already a turnaround occurring in which informal sectors received increased legitimacy and cooperative stances. Nevertheless, stances. 政治大. towards the informal sector are, even in those countries where legitimacy is somewhat increased, negative in majority.. 立. Both Wilson et al. (2006) and Baud et al. (2001) analyze recycling in developing. ‧ 國. 學. countries. That would on first sight be a step away from the topic of study in this thesis. However, upon closer observation, it becomes clear that they provide invaluable input to. ‧. this thesis, for three reasons. Firstly, they form a small body of literature that explicitly considers NGOs and the informal sector as a possible part of a recycling system and thus. y. Nat. sit. are related to the topic considered here. Secondly, they argue for systems similar to that. al. er. io. in Taiwan, in which the informal sector is cooperating with the formal sector, rather than. n. following the Western example of eradicating the informal sector completely. That makes. Ch. i n U. v. a study such as the one proposed here key: Taiwan’s system and the integration of Tzu. engchi. Chi as an NGO could provide highly valuable lessons to countries that are currently developing their MSWM systems. Thirdly and finally, related to the previous argument, Taiwan’s general economy developed more rapidly and recently than most Western developed economies, which are more widely considered as examples in MSWM literature; yet, this places Taiwan as a whole closer to economies that are developing today, as economy and waste processing seem to be linked from earlier studies by Okumura et al. (2014) and Vujić et al. (2015). Two publications that are also highly related to the topic of this thesis were written regarding religious organizations in the recycling sector. These include Mohamad et al. (2012a) and Mohamad et al. (2012b); both publications focus on Malaysia, a country 14.

(24) where less than 1% falls under the label of agnosticism or atheism. These studies are related to the one in this thesis due to the religious values of the Tzu Chi Foundation; moreover, they (however implicitly) focus on incentives, too. The main question asked by Mohamad et al. (2012a) regards which motivations can increase effective community participation to recycling, which they underline is crucial in terms of 1) sorting at the community level and 2) recovery of high quality recyclables. The authors, as the previous paragraph suggests, focus on answering this question looking at successful recycling programs by religious communities, suggesting harnessing the values of the religions of Malaysia’s largely religious society. ‘Successful’. 政治大. here is defined as the organization having established long-lasting operations after a number of stages outlined in Table 3. It becomes quite clear that Tzu Chi in Taiwan has. 立. already long reached the status of successful following this definition:. ‧ 國. 學. Table 3 Successfulness of recycling programs. - Source: Mohamed et al. (2012a). ‧. recycling and gains understanding about it.. y. Nat. 2. Persuasion: Members of religious community actively seek for. al. er. io. towards it.. sit. more information about recycling, and forms favorable attitude. v. n. 3. Decision to adopt: Members of religious community consider. Ch. i n U. adopting recycling activities after consciously weighing its advantages/disadvantages. 4. Implementation:. engchi. Members. of. religious. community. Higher level of adoption. 1. Knowledge: Member of religious community knows about. have. experimented with recycling activities either in a short-term or adhoc manner. 5. Confirmation: Members of the religious community conduct the recycling activity in a more continuous manner and try to improve the activities overtime. The theoretical lens they apply is a framework named the “Technological Transitions Framework”, developed by Geels (2002). The framework explains sustainable 15.

(25) development as something that is initiated locally in- and between ‘niches’. This subsequently spreads through a ‘network of regimes’, a larger collection of ‘niches’. As this then becomes regular in the regime, it jumps over to other regimes, finally impacting the larger landscape. Specifically interesting in the study by Mohamed et al (2012a) is the role that the Tzu Chi Foundation plays. In Malaysia, they run one of the most successful recycling programs in the country (Mohamed et al. 2012a; Mohamed et al. 2012b). The volunteers in Malaysia operate largely on their own, but cooperate with local municipalities in Malaysia and receive support from the liaison office in Taipei and trainings from other Tzu Chi. 政治大 Mohamed et al. (2012b) provides extensive insights in the common success factors of the 立 studied religious recycling programs. Firstly, they point out, all of the programs studied branches, the authors of Mohamed (2012a) point out.. ‧ 國. 學. are highly systematic in collecting, segregating and subsequently selling the recyclables. Secondly, the religious groupings all execute their recycling in the long-term, with eye. ‧. for improvement. This, however, was already suggested in their criterion for the organization to be ‘successful’, and selected for both studies, as discussed above. A. y. Nat. sit. further point of critique is that neither seem to explain why religious groups in this case. n. al. er. io. would perform better than others.. Ch. engchi. 16. i n U. v.

(26) 3 Methodology This chapter will further dig out the main aim and research methods that will be used for the proposed thesis. The research will look at the NGO in the recycling sector will be looked at in terms of the incentives that surround it. A secondary aim is to learn more about the theory surrounding institutions and incentives, and the dynamics between incentives; the expectation is that specifically, motivation crowding effects will be observed. These are likely to play between monetary incentives, and the incentives as a result of the NGO’s ideals- as a result, monetary incentives may undermine or come to overrule intrinsic motivations at the organizational level. If these, however, are not found,. 政治大 Clear from the beginning 立was that recycling done by the Tzu Chi Foundation, and its it would be interesting to see how both incentives coexist and synergize to align actors.. interaction with the rest of the institutions in the recycling system, would be used to. ‧ 國. 學. answer the above question. This makes Tzu Chi in the Taiwanese recycling sector a case study; the literature analyzed in the previous chapter has made clear that there is not yet. ‧. any research done related to this question. Tzu Chi’s large-scale presence along the. y. Nat. recycling chain seems an oddity for NGOs. Whereas the Tzu Chi Foundation is by no. sit. means the only recycling-related NGO, or even the only NGO engaging in recycling. er. io. activities, the scale of their operations is- as far as the author is aware- unique, and may. al. iv n C This chapter will therefore starth byebuilding i U for further analysis, based on n g c ahframework n. provide beautiful learning opportunities.. the literature. Secondly, case data will be considered in terms of types, collection methods and analysis. Thirdly, this chapter will discuss what contributions this thesis will aim to make to the existing literature. Finally, a last brief subchapter will discuss early insights and a brief collection of expected results.. 3.1 Research questions The main research question that was already phrased above is formulated as:. 17.

(27) “What are the incentive dynamics for an ideological NGO operating on a large scale, along the value chain, in the recycling sector, and how may this affect its contribution to recycling?” To narrow this down and answer it, several case-specific sub-questions need to be considered. Regarding general incentives that are in place, that will be the following questions: 1. What incentives did Tzu Chi as an organization have to operate in the recycling sector over time? 2. What incentives does the Da.ai Technology Corporation have over time?. 政治大. Regarding the interaction of these incentives, that will be the following. 立. 3. How did the incentives of the Tzu Chi foundation interact and change over time?. ‧ 國. 學. Regarding the effects on recycling success:. ‧. 4. What have been Tzu Chi’s and Da.ai’s recycling activities?. 5. What have been their effects on Taiwan’s recycling success?. sit. y. Nat. io. al. er. Regarding theoretical lessons:. n. 6. How can this example be generalized to understand the potential role of an NGO?. Ch. 3.2 Conceptual framework. engchi. i n U. v. The literature reviewed in chapter 2.2 has brought up several important parties and relationships within recycling sectors that are commonplace. Subsequently, a framework is constructed to investigate the dynamics between the different institutions in recycling, with a focus on the role of Tzu Chi as an NGO. The key actors in the framework to study will –quite evidently, from the previous analyses- need to be the private sector, the public sector, the community and the Tzu Chi Foundation representing the NGO section. With the exception of the Recycling Fund. 18.

(28) included in the diagram, the rule is: the higher up in the picture, the higher the position in the value chain identified by Wilson et al. (2006) (chapter 2.2, figure a) The visual outline depicted below in figure b bases off the ‘map’ of the recycling sector by Bor et al. (2004), that will be further discussed in chapter 4.1.2, and forms a means of understanding the structure of the Taiwanese recycling sector.. Moreover, as it is less relevant to the topic of study, the producers paying into the fund have been left out. Please do note thet this is not the conceptual framework yet; it displays the Taiwanese recycling sector, based on which the framework will be set up.. 政治大. Figure b - structure of the Taiwanese recycling sector. Source: adapted from Bor et al. [2004). ‧ 國. y. ‧. Nat. io. Private collection. n. al. Ch. sit. Tzu Chi. er. Municipal collection. Private collectors, wholesalers. Da.ai Technology. 學. Recycling fund. 立. engchi. Community. i n U. v. = Money flow = Material flow. Within this system, the community, through consumption, produces recyclables that are collected by municipal collectors, private- and sometimes informal- collectors such as scavengers, and the Tzu Chi Foundation. Most of these are sold to wholesalers and larger scale private collectors, who receive money from the national recycling fund to operate; money that thus trickles down to the other actors, too. These wholesalers and collectors typically sell it on as a resource to industry, sometimes already pre-processed. The Tzu. 19.

(29) Chi Foundation however sells a large share of its collected PET-bottles, and in recent year also other recyclables, to Da.ai Technology. Da.ai Technology is a recyclable processing and Research and Development (R&D) company that was initiated by Tzu Chi volunteers, some say at the suggestion of Cheng Yen. Its equity is in the hands of the Tzu Chi Foundation, and its profits get donated back to the Tzu Chi Foundation. It purchases its recyclables only from. the Tzu Chi. Foundation, and makes and sells emergency products such as blankets and prefabricated housing, all made out of recyclables, back to the Foundation. When considering Tzu Chi’s recycling activities, it will thus also be a relevant actor to consider in this structure.. 政治大 (aside from ‘community’) includes government organized institutions. On the left, there 立 is the private sector, which is visibly quite well integrated in the system, as opposed to. The right hand side in the diagram is reserved for Tzu Chi and Da.ai, whereas the center. ‧ 國. 學. the Tzu Chi Foundation. A final note must be made regarding the top arrows flowing from the NGO and industry entities; these flows are not topic of study, and would most. ‧. likely involve a plethora of actors such as consumers, other industry parties, and Tzu Chi’s aid recipients. For simplification, these are regarded as flows in- and out of the. io. sit. y. Nat. system.. er. Following the theoretical work done by Frey and Jegen (2001) and Tang and Tang. al. n. iv n C taken as a key topic. Observing h how e these n g affect c h itheUTzu Chi Foundation’s interests, and. (2014), the set of incentives that are in place in the institutional environment will be. subsequently actions, the dynamics between the incentives will be determined, as well as the impact of the organization on recycling success.. 20.

(30) Table 4 - Conceptual framework. Source: own.. Recycling success Ecological goals from Baud et al. (2001): see Chapter 3.2.1. Community. Private sector. Municipal. NGO. Government Actions. Actions. Community. Private sector. Actions. Actions. Municipal 政治 government 大. 立 Interests. Interests. NGO. Interests. Interests. Incentives. Incentives. Incentives. Nat. y. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Incentives. sit. This research focuses on the influence of the NGO on the right hand side, and the. al. er. io. incentives that are in place for the NGO; the variables will thus only be considered for the. n. Foundation. However, following Hodgson’s (2006) assertions that organizations are. Ch. i n U. v. comprised of individuals and should be studied with consideration of them, individual. engchi. incentives of Tzu Chi Foundation volunteers will be taken into account for completeness; but in order to make an analysis of the impact on the whole system, the organization will be considered as an actor, thus requiring focus on communications from the organization as a whole. Through the framework, the impact of the set of incentives on the Tzu Chi Foundation’s and its volunteers’ interests and subsequent behavior is analyzed for a number of different identified periods of time. Then, it is compared in terms of its contribution to national recycling numbers to observe its contribution to recycling success. Whereas an earlier goal was to incorporate the whole of Baud et al.’s (2001) goals for recycling success, this is was simplified to focus on numbers that are publicly available, which 21.

(31) concern total recycling of paper and plastics. Finally, the evolving incentives over time become subject of scrutiny, to understand how these interacted and developed, and structurally impacted recycling success. The framework furthermore separates ‘incentives’- i.e., the factors that motivate- from the resulting view of the actors’ interests, to get a clearer picture of how incentives are perceived and lead to action. Generally, incentives are studied as to how they affect behavior- for example, in Lyer et al (2007)- but to display the interaction, the extra ‘interest’ variable is displayed, attempting to capture how incentives are interpreted and subsequently affect the behavior- i.e. actions- of the NGO.. 3.2.1 Operationalization. 立. 政治大. The above framework, though correct, is still a general one. When using this framework,. ‧ 國. 學. it is useful to zoom further in on only one or two streams of materials. This framework cannot be applied to some streams, as they for example do not fall within the Recycling. ‧. Fund or within Tzu Chi’s scope of activities. Therefore, the focus will be on plastic and paper, which following table 6 on the next page are two recyclables that fall within the. y. Nat. sit. Recycling Fund (EPA, n.d.), are also recycled by the Tzu Chi Foundation (Tzu Chi. er. io. Foundation website, 2011) and consistently make up two of the largest classes of. al. recyclables in Taiwan (EPA, 2016a). n. iv n C Case studies, as seen from the literature h e n greview, c h i areUan often-used tool when observing MSW-systems and recycling systems. Gerring (2007: p. 19) defines a case as a “spatially delimited phenomenon (a unit) observed at a single point in time or over some period of time.” It is thus important to stipulate, apart from the phenomenon, a time-period or point in time. The period in time in this thesis will be from the beginning of Tzu Chi’s recycling until the start of the study. The case studied is the recycling done by Tzu Chi as a part of the Taiwanese institutional recycling environment. A point worth mentioning here is that the plastic bottles processing are legally done by another organization, Da.ai Technology. However, this organization, which calls itself a ‘non-profit company,’ was started by the Tzu Chi Foundation, still holds intensive 22.

(32) operational ties, is owned by the Tzu Chi Foundation, and donates its full income after expenses to the Foundation. For analytical purposes in this thesis, it will therefore mostly be assumed to be under the label NGO/Tzu Chi. For measuring recycling success, Baud et al.’s (2001) definition would be ideal. However, to avoid over-complication, the analysis in this thesis focuses on the ecological sustainability goals, as these have public statistics available and can thus be analyzed more exact than most others; nevertheless, establishing a direct statistical link is not attempted. These statistics provide an image of the trend and are related to qualitative sources throughout the analysis.. 政治大. Table 5 - Ecological Sustainability (Recycling Success). Source: Baud et al. (2001). ‧ 國. 學. statistics;. (kg) Recycling. ‧. 2. Maximization of material re-use and recycling. percentages of Tzu Chi and EPA.. y. n. al. Ch. engchi. 23. sit. io. Table 6 MSW composition in Taiwan - Source: EPA website (n.d). er. sustainability. EPA. MSW/capita/day. Nat. Ecological. 1.. 立 Minimal household waste production. i n U. v.

(33) 3.3 Methods This chapter will outline what types of data were collected, how this was collected, and how it was analyzed, respectively. For the analysis, the Tzu Chi Foundation in the Taiwanese recycling sector will be taken as a case study of an NGO in a recycling sector. As much of the information sought relates to qualitative information, a case narrative is built describing organizational interests, individual interests, main courses of action, activities, and contributions towards recycling success.. 3.3.1 Data. 政治大 Foundation as a whole in chapter 4, the literature was used and cross-referenced to come 立 to a full understanding; a major source of literature regarding the Tzu Chi Foundation For the background understanding of both Taiwanese recycling and the Tzu Chi. ‧ 國. 學. was one ethnography published by Huang (2009), but other sources were used as well. Additionally, some laws and policy documents published by EPA were obtained online.. ‧. For building the case, mostly qualitative data was gathered. The data that was collected to. sit. y. Nat. form Tzu Chi’s case was limited by language barriers; for example internal documents are on a large scale an unlikely means of building the case. Interview data, however, is. io. er. very interesting and provided insights on the motivations and goals of those involved in. al. n. iv n C U are in place for the Tzu Chi Foundation and being primary data this h e n gand c hitsi members,. Tzu Chi’s recycling. This data thus provides a further understanding of the incentives that. source provides unique opportunities to clarify where other sources lack.. Effects of incentives on its interests, actions, and subsequent impacts on recycling success, were observed. Qualitative, secondary data was also obtained from the Tzu Chi Quarterly. While this is a magazine that the NGO itself publishes, and thus allows for a considerable level of selffiltering, self-censoring and idealized images, it does allow sequencing recycling events that play a role within the organization, and provides an insight into incentives, interests and activities across the organization. Supplemented by aforementioned interviews, it provides a whole picture of events, actions by the organization, and their motivation. 24.

(34) Also, secondary quantitative data was obtained regarding the volume of recycling over time. This was used to identify trends, place information into context, and understand the scale of Tzu Chi’s operations within the Taiwanese recycling sector.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 25. i n U. v.

(35) 3.3.2 Collection Quantitative data Quantitative data about the general Taiwanese sector are published by the EPA (regarding recycling done by government agencies over several categories) and quantitative data about Tzu Chi’s recycling was published yearly since 1995. National Taiwanese statistics are available since 2001 at the EPA; statistics from 1998-2000 were found in the literature, recorded by the EPA and preserved in an article by Lu et al. (2006). Tzu Chi’s data is available online for the period 2005-2015 in Tzu Chi’s Yearbooks (Nianjian 年鑑 ) in Chinese, and the data for the period 1995-2005 was. 政治大. obtained through hardcopy versions of the report under the same name.. 立. For Tzu Chi’s quantitative statistics, no consistent system seems in place; on a yearly. ‧ 國. 學. basis, some extra categories are created, such as ‘plastic bags’ in 2009. Nevertheless, a category ‘plastic products’ includes plastics that are not separately reported; a total of. ‧. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), plastic products, and since 2009, plastic bags, was taken as a total of plastic. Paper has consistently been reported since 1995. Total numbers. sit. y. Nat. were published every year except for 2001; the reason for this is unspecified.. al. er. io. National Taiwanese statistics are published online by the EPA. The agency both. n. published numbers about specific products that fall under the recycling fund (see Chapter. Ch. i n U. v. 4.1.1 for an explanation) and more general categories of recyclables, recycled only by. engchi. government agencies. The more general statistics were observed in this case. Whereas these would not include the Tzu Chi Foundation’s recycling, they do provide the most complete available overview of Taiwanese recycling amounts. Qualitative data Interviewees were approached through an initial contact person in the organization, who introduced the researching student to two other contacts; from here, further contacts were sought. This resulted in 5 interview sessions with 6 interviewees. Of these 6 interviewees, 3 were Da.Ai Technology employees, 5 were volunteers, 1 was a Tzu Chi Commissioner and 1 held a leading position at a recycling station, and 1 had functioned as a tour-guide 26.

(36) around the recycling station. All interviewees were selected on the basis of their experience; more experienced volunteers can logically be expected to have more knowledge of the organization through exchanges between stations and central events. Every interviewed volunteer had experience of five years or more with the organization. Before interviewing, stories from the Tzu Chi Quarterly (TCQ) were collected. Stories were collected over 1996-2007 and 2011-2015. Before 1996, and between 2007 and 2010, the Tzu Chi Quarterly was not retrievable. In total, 28 stories were found, from which a further understanding was built of Tzu Chi’s recycling events, motivations and strategies. All these stories included insights from individuals or projects that the Foundation. 政治大. deemed desirable, indicating where its incentives lied. Almost all stories were reports of volunteers and described in detail processes at the recycling stations; 3 stories were. 立. no.. Da01. Volunteer. (approx.). Employee. Nat. at. Da.ai Yes. at. Da.ai No. 5 years. sit. ?. er. Employee. io. Da02. with. organization. Technology. I. Experience. ‧. I. Position. y. Interview Code. 學. ‧ 國. editorials.. al. n. Technology. i n guide at Yes C tour he i U recycling station n g c h. v. II. To01. Former. 10 years. III. Co01. Tzu Chi Commissioner. Yes. 26 years. IV. Ma01. Recycling station manager. Yes. 10 years. V. Da03. Da.ai Technology Employee. Yes. 8 years. Additionally, visits were made to the Tzu Chi recycling station in Neihu to observe and talk to volunteers. Approximately 8 hours of time were spent on observing- and participating in- collecting and initial sorting of the recyclables.. 27.

(37) 3.3.3 Analysis The interview data was analyzed and structured after transcription. Quotes relating to certain topics from both interviews and the TCQ are mentioned in Appendix 2. The information gathered from this is built into a logical narrative after careful consideration of the evidence. This narrative will subsequently be analyzed together with the recycling background using the theory, looking for incentives, interests of actors, and resulting outputs of organizations in the recycling sector, to observe dynamics between incentives. In terms of ‘actions’, both trends- as well as clear-cut decisions are distilled from the case narrative.. 政治大 information. Both external media sources and quantitative data were used to cross立 reference with descriptive data and to put it into context. However, no quantitative links With both qualitative data sources used, it is important to control reliability of the. ‧ 國. 學. are established. Where specific events or policy changes that can be factually checked are observed, literature and then media will be the preferred options for cross-referencing.. ‧. Answers from interviewees are compared to each other and media sources; contradictory information is left out or, if such a contradiction is considered relevant to understanding. y. Nat. n. er. io. al. sit. of the case, made explicit.. Ch. engchi. 28. i n U. v.

(38) 4 Backgrounds This chapter will provide the background information to the case: Firstly, what the Taiwanese recycling and MSW sector is and how it has grown into what it is today, and secondly, the background of the Tzu Chi Foundation. As such, it provides a further understanding of the case that will be presented after it, forming organizational- as well as macro-level context. This chapter bases largely off secondary sources; the EPA’s information, news outlets, and literature, but where possible it will also be supplemented by fragments and examples from Taiwanese recycling and MSW laws and directives; several of these have been translated into English by the EPA itself, and if necessary, a. 政治大. translation will be provided here.. 立. 4.1 Taiwanese MSW. ‧ 國. 學. Despite perhaps running relatively smoothly in modern times, Taiwan’s recycling is a. ‧. development of the last few decades. This chapter will first provide a history of a developing legal framework for MSW and recycling in Taiwan, then continuing to briefly. sit. y. Nat. discuss collection and processing methods, then the informal sector, after which it will. io. and were in place.. er. focus on the more recent sector characteristics, and analyze different incentives that are. n. al. i n C 4.1.1 A chronology of policieshand e nincentives gchi U. v. Taiwanese attention for responsible handling of waste began in 1974 with the implementation of the “Solid Waste Disposal Act”, before which open dumping without environmental regard was common practice (Pariatamby and Tanaka 2014; Solid Waste Disposal Act 2013). Even until ten years after the implementation of this directive, which has been revised 12 times since its implementation, many still describe Taiwan’s MSW as having been virtually nonexistent. Open dumping and uncontrolled landfill facilities were still commonplace (Houng 2013; Ho et al. n.d.). In 1984 legislators showed that they had become more aware of waste during a time of rapid economic development and subsequent increases in waste production. The so-called 29.