After the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) was established in 1987, the importation of metal-bearing scrap materials was completely banned. But the transition of Taiwan's industrial sector from labor intensive to capital-intensive production and the accompanying huge expansion in industrial capacity have caused the amount of home-grown industrial waste to burgeon.
民國七十六年環保署成立之後，全面禁止廢五金輸入，但是台灣產業型態從勞力密集轉型到資本密集，產業界產能大增，工廠產生的廢棄物也逐年增加。