This study surveys the operation modes, results and problems of the waste container recycling system in Taiwan, known as the Four-in-One Program, and compares the collation and time trend analysis of the program’s results (such as the garbage clearance volume, the recycling rate of recyclable resources, the price of plastic “Due Recyclable Waste Containers” (DRWCs), among other variables). The results show that the Four-in-One Program in Taiwan could prevent waste generation and increase recycling weight and that the program’s key contributing factors are the collective environmental consciousness, subsidies, and the resources recycle fee (RRF). However, the decreasing trends of the daily per capita garbage clearance volume in Taiwan and Japan might be because the Four-in-One Program’s municipal garbage collection teams check the trash to retrieve recyclable resources.

This study employs a life-cycle evaluation model of due recyclable waste (DRW) to analyze its optimal waste recycling fee (WRF) and subsidy. The results suggest that the government could set the optimal WRF and subsidy of DRW under the assumptions of the relationship that exist between the WRF and the subsidy for the budgetary constraints, but not set for the externality of DRW, and the environmental consciousness of individuals. And the different purposes of the WRF and subsidy are the reasons why a life-cycle evaluation model of due recyclable waste (DRW) is necessary to analyze its optimal waste recycling fee (WRF) and subsidy