Taiwan authorities have appealed to the public to flush toilet tissues rather than put them in waste paper cans.

Flushing toilet paper saves as much as $19.73 million in disposal fees each year, and as toilet tissue dissolves in water, flushing reduces trash as well as the transmission of bacteria, Tainan City environmental protection bureau said.

The island consumes 340 tons of toilet paper every day, according to an official survey. Disposing of it, moreover, costs $150 per ton.

(China Daily July 23, 2008)