In a decision dated 22 February 2012, the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) found that 12 companies engage in the recycle of waste electrical and electronic equipment (collectively, "WEEE Recycling Companies") had illegally colluded in the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment and related affairs ("WEEE Conspiracy"). While most of the WEEE Recycling Companies also recycled waste computer appliances, the TFTC also found that 13 companies engage in the recycle of waste computer appliances (collectively, "WCA Recycling Companies") had conspired in the recycling of waste computer appliances and related affairs via a scheme similar to that in the WEEE Conspiracy ("WCA Conspiracy"). In view of the foregoing, the TFTC imposed fines totaling NT$121.9 million on the WEEE Recycling Companies and fines totaling NT$18.1 million on the WCA Recycling Companies.

In Taiwan, a company intending to conduct the business of recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment or waste computer appliances should first register with the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). A qualified recycling company may proceed with the collection and disposal of the wastes and then apply for subsidies from the EPA. As the WEEE Recycling Companies or WCA Recycling Companies are all qualified recycling companies, they are deemed competitors at the same horizontal level and thus any concerted action among them is within the purview of cartel regulations.

In the WEEE Conspiracy, according to the TFTC's investigation, the WEEE Recycling Companies executed a joint waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling agreement ("Joint Agreement") and stipulated guidelines for recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment to agree on. Among others, the price for acquiring waste equipment, the volume of equipment recycled each company is responsible for, each company's transacting party, and allocation of expenses accrued are stipulated therein, and each company would apply for subsidies from the EPA based on the volume of recycled equipment it processed under the Joint Agreement. Meanwhile, in order to ensure compliance with the Joint Agreement, the following arrangements were made: (i) each WEEE Recycling Company should provide a NT$3 million performance bond, (ii) every two companies shall periodically check each other's daily recycling status report, and (iii) a fine is imposed on any non-compliance.

Furthermore, according to the guidelines, WEEE Recycling Companies jointly set up a "members' meeting" to oversee a management committee and an administration committee, which are responsible for calculating the inventory, daily reporting, allocation of recycling volume among members, and settlement of relevant payments. The members' meeting is generally held every three months and the committees are convened monthly so as to allocate the recycling volume among the WEEE Recycling Companies, regardless of the members' varied capital expenditure, cost structure and distribution capability. Under the above arrangement, a WEEE Recycling Company with a higher recycling capacity would have to give away the wastes it collects to members with a lower capacity. As a result, most companies' utilization rates were low and the market price for acquiring wastes was inflexible, which eventually stifled the competition in the market.

As to the WCA Conspiracy, the TFTC concluded that the WCA Recycling Companies colluded with each other through a scheme similar to that underlying the WEEE Conspiracy.

Since the WEEE Conspiracy and WCA Conspiracy constituted a prohibited cartel under Article 14 of the Fair Trade Act, the TFTC determined to impose fines totaling NT$121.9 million on the WEEE Recycling Companies and fines totaling NT$18.1 million on the WCA Recycling Companies. The TFTC's fine on each company ranged from NT$25 million to NT$200,000 depending on their scale of operations, motive for the violation and duration of participation in the conspiracy.