<p>The growing demand for eating out from COVID-19 and the Taiwan’s prohibition on plastic tableware have significantly raised the use of paper tableware. This surge exacerbates the environmental burden from paper recycling industry and indirectly contributes to extensive embodied carbon emissions. This study utilizes the environmentally extended multiregional input–output model to assess Taiwan's waste paper tableware carbon emissions (WPTCE) from global supply chain perspective during 2018–2021. The results demonstrated that the global WPTCE from Taiwan's paper recycling industry is 35 to 149 kilotons of CO₂ during this period, with approximately 60% of the emissions originating from the sector of electricity, gas and water. Moreover, the proportion of carbon emissions from waste paper tableware within Taiwan's recycling sector increased from 1 to 10% in 2018–2021 due to COVID-19 impact. By 2021, Vietnam’s manufacturing sector overtook China in embodied carbon emissions from Taiwan’s WPT recycling, revealing a shift in global production-related emission patterns. Structural decomposition analysis indicate that between 2019 and 2020, WPTCE increased by 104%, with recycling weight serving as the main driving factor, accounting for 96% of the total increase (equivalent to 79 kilotons of CO₂). This analysis reinforces that elevated recycling volumes significantly contribute to carbon emission growth. United States and Japan managed to achieve high economic output with relatively lower carbon emissions for supplying Taiwan's paper recycling industry through global supply chains. These findings highlight the needed for targeted policies to improve energy efficiency, adopt advanced recycling technologies, and foster international cooperation to manage Taiwan’s WPTCE.</p>