, said the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). The new measure will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will start in July and will affect all levels of the government, city and county government offices, public schools, as well as government-owned businesses.
Public libraries, cultural centers, hospitals, and medical centers will also have to abide with the new regulation starting in July.
The second phase will be implemented next July, and will expand the measures to also affect government training centers and government-arranged meetings with less than 40 people in attendance, including legislative hearings and seminars.
This will save an estimated 200 tons in waste matter in 2008 and 2009, said the EPA in a report by the China Times yesterday.
Government employees and the public at large will have to bring their own cups when attending the aforementioned sites, according to an EPA official.
The only exception to the rule will be in the event of an outbreak or water shortage, in which case packaged water and water offered in paper cups will be allowed at the government premises, said the EPA.
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