Made from waste cooking oil or rapeseed and soy, biodiesel can be used in place of or mixed with regular diesel as fuel in machinery to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere.

Garbage trucks this July will begin carrying bins to collect waste cooking oil from the public, who will be prohibited from mixing other kinds of waste into the oil.

Those not complying with the new mandatory policy will face a fine of NT$1,200.

According to EPA statistics, Taiwan produces between 7 to 8.5 metric tons of waste cooking oil each year, with fast food restaurants, food factories, schools, restaurants, and food stalls making up 80 percent of the total.

Households account for 20 percent of Taiwan's waste cooking oil.

Recycling efforts so far have yielded only two metric tons of waste cooking oil a year, according to the EPA.

The EPA said that households generally dispose of their cooking oil by dumping it down the drain, mixing it with leftovers, or pouring it into empty bottles that are then thrown away as trash.

The administration also said it will in the future require the fast food industry and restaurants to report the amount of waste cooking oil left over to authorities.

Meanwhile, the EPA and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are planning to replace all diesel fuel for sale to consumers to biodiesel by July 2008.

Since 2005, the EPA has subsidized the trial use of biodiesel on 780 garbage trucks in thirteen counties and cities across Taiwan.

According to a survey conducted on garbage trucks' sanitary crews, the workers reported that less black smoke is emitted from the garbage trucks' exhaust.

However, they also said that the trucks' engine power is weaker, and the engines have difficulty starting when the weather is cold.