Taichung is about to launch free school lunches for all students, but a fight has broken out over the tens of millions being spent just to throw the leftovers away.

• The city plans to spend around NT$4.15 billion on free lunches and another NT$82.5 million just to dispose of the food waste.
• A city councillor says it makes no sense to "spend billions cooking and then millions dumping," and wants some of that money to buy commercial food waste machines instead.
• The education chief pushed back, saying the machines cost hundreds of thousands to over a million each, plus ongoing power and maintenance, and schools produce very different amounts of waste.
• Other cities are moving first: Taoyuan now covers half the cost of commercial machines for caterers, and Kaohsiung is turning food waste into reusable products and energy.
• The proposal pairs machine subsidies with "clean your plate" rewards to cut waste at the source, not just at the end.

Outlook: The city is sticking with waste reduction and recycling for now, so expect more pressure at budget time rather than an immediate switch to machines.