Far Eastern New Century Corporation (FENC), a member of Far Eastern Group, has issued NT$3 billion ($101.62 million) of ‘green’ bonds which are now listed on Taiwan’s over-the-counter bourse. This has made FENC the first local private company to issue ‘green’ debt. The bonds have a maturity of five years with a fixed coupon rate of 0.95 per cent.
The money collected through these bonds will be used to fund four projects—to recycle polyester materials, to build its second set of waterless dyeing equipment, to build a ‘green’ building in New Taipei City’s Banciao district, and to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds at the company’s existing polyester manufacturing processes, FENC said, according to Taiwanese media reports.
Far Eastern New Century has been promoting the importance of reduce, reuse, recycle—the 3Rs—with an aim to develop a circular economy and reduce its dependence on petrochemicals, Douglas Hsu, FENC chairman, said at the listing ceremony in Taipei.
Nearly 20 per cent of FENC’s textile products are environment-friendly.
