Taipei, Aug. 10 (CNA) Taiwan recycled nearly 180,000 tons of plastic in 2009, producing items ranging from flower pots to sportswear for a total annual production value of NT$4.5 billion (US$141.64 million) , the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said Tuesday.

Last year, the recycle rate of PET containers reached 83.7 percent, while that of PP/PE containers was 90.4 percent and PVC hit 92.5 percent, the EPA said in a statement.

EPA officials said plastic containers can not only be reused for the manufacture of different household appliances but also help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

For example, using one ton of recycled PET bottles in making new products can reduce CO2 emissions by 0.59 tons, or 54.6 percent, compared with producing new PET, the EPA said. (By Lee Hsien-feng and Elizabeth Hsu) enditem/bc