【卫报】中国禁止国外垃圾：世界垃圾回收将何去何从? [英国媒体]

The dominant position that China holds in globalmanufacturing means that for many years China has also been the largest globalimporter of many types of recyclable materials. Last year, Chinesemanufacturers imported 7.3 million metric tonnes of waste plastics fromdeveloped countries including the UK, the EU, the US and Japan.

中国在全球制造业处于支配地，这也意味着，多年来中国一直是全球最大的可回收材料进口国。去年，中国从发达国家(包括英国、欧盟、美国和日本)进口了730万吨废塑料。

However, in July China announced big changes in thequality control placed on imported materials, notifying the World TradeOrganisation that it will ban imports of 24 categories of recyclables and solidwaste by the end of the year. This campaign against yang laji,  or “foreign garbage”, applies to plastic,textiles and mixed paper. It will result in China taking a lot less material asit replaces imported materials with recycled material collected in its owndomestic market, from its growing middle-class and Western-influencedconsumers.

然而，今年7月，中国宣布将对进口材料的质量控制作出重大调整。中国通知世界贸易组织，今年底将禁止进口24类可回收废品和固体废物。主要针对塑料、纺织品和废杂纸。随着中国中产阶级不断壮大和消费习惯西方化，中国国内市场的回收材料将替代进口材料。这也导致中国进口国外垃圾数量大幅减少。

The impact of this will be far-reaching. China is thedominant market for recycled plastic. There are concerns that much of the wastethat the country currently imports, especially the lower grade materials, willhave nowhere else to go.

这将产生深远的影响。中国是全球再生塑料的主要市场。人们担心，目前中国进口的大部分垃圾，尤其是那些低等级材料，之后将无处可去。

This applies equally to other countries including theEU27, where 87 per cent of the recycled plastic collected was exporteddirectly, or indirectly (via Hong Kong), to China. Japan and the US also relyon China to buy their recycled plastic. Last year, the US exported 1.42 milliontons of scrap plastics, worth an estimated $495m (￡373m) to China.

包括欧盟二十七国在内的国家同样面临这种情况，这些国家87%的再生塑料被直接，或者通过香港间接出口到中国。日本和美国的再生塑料也主要出口到中国。去年,美国向中国出口了142万吨的废塑料,总值4.95亿美元。

Plastic problems

塑料危机

So what will happen to the plastic these countriescollect through household recycling systems once the Chinese refuse to acceptit? What are the alternatives?

那么，一旦中国拒绝接受这些国家通过家庭回收系统收集的塑料，将会生什么后果?有别的解决方法吗?

Plastics collected for recycling could go to energyrecovery (incineration). They are, after all, a fossil-fuel based material andburn extremely well – so on a positive note, they could generate electricityand improve energy self-sufficiency.

可以用于能量回收(焚烧)。毕竟，塑料的基础材料是化石燃料，燃烧效果非常好——因此，焚烧塑料积极的方面是，可以用来发电，提高能源的自给自足。

They could also go to landfill. This is not ideal –imagine the press headlines. Alternatively, materials could be stored until newmarkets are found. This also brings problems, however – there have beenhundreds of fires at sites where recyclable materials are stored.

也可以送去垃圾填埋场。这种方法不太理想——想象一下媒体的头条吧。还有一种方法，储存起来，寻找新的市场。不过也会带来新的问题——在可回收材料存储地已经发生了数百起火灾。

Time to change our relationship with plastic?

是时候改变人类与塑料制品的关系了吗？

While it is a reliable material, taking many forms fromcling film (surround-wrap) to flexible packaging to rigid materials used inelectronic items, the problems caused by plastic, most notably litter and oceanplastics, are receiving increasing attention.

从柔性包装的保鲜膜，到包装电子产品的硬塑料，塑料都是可靠的包装材料，但塑料包装产生的塑料垃圾和海洋塑料污染，正越来越受到重视。

One way forward might be to limit its functions. Manydisposable items are made from plastic. Some of them are disposable bynecessity for hygiene purposes – for instance, blood bags and other medicalitems – but many others are disposable for convenience.

一种方法是限制其功能。许多一次性物品都是塑料制品。其中一些出于卫生的目的——例如，血液袋和其他医疗用品——但许多一次性用品只是因为方便。

Looking at the consumer side, there are ways of cuttingback on plastic. Limiting the use of plastic bags through financialdisincentives is one initiative that has shown results and brought aboutchanges in consumer behaviour. In France, some disposable plastic items arebanned and in the Britain, leading pub chain JD Wetherspoon has banneddisposable, one-use plastic drinking straws.

在消费者看来，可以减少塑料的使用。通过财务限制来控制塑料袋被证明是有效的，而且还能改变消费者行为。在法国，一些一次性塑料制品被禁止使用，在英国，酒吧连锁店威瑟斯本已经禁止使用一次性塑料吸管。

Deposit and return schemes for plastic bottles (anddrink cans) could also incentivise behaviour. Micro-beads, widely used incosmetics as exfoliants, are now a target as the damage they do becomesincreasingly apparent and the UK Government has announced plans to ban theiruse in some products.

塑料瓶(和饮料罐)的退瓶返钱项目也可以激励环保行为。由于广泛应用于化妆品的微珠，危害越来越明显，英国政府已经宣布禁止在某些产品中使用。

This follows similar actions announced by the US andCanada, with several EU nations, South Korea and New Zealand also planning toimplement bans.

在此之前，美国和加拿大也宣布了类似的行动，一些欧盟国家、韩国和新西兰也计划实施禁令。

Many local authorities collect recycling that is jumbledtogether. But a major side effect of this type of collection is that while itis convenient for the householder, there are high contamination levels whichleads to reduced material quality. This will mean it is either sold for lowerprices into a limited market, will need to be reprocessed through sortingplants, or will be incinerated or put in landfill. But changes to recyclingcollections and reprocessing to improve the quality of materials could beexpensive.

许多地方政府收集垃圾，回收利用。可是这种垃圾收集方式有副作用，虽然对家庭很方便，但污染水平高，垃圾质量下降。这种垃圾要么以低价销售给有限的市场，要么通过分选车间进行分类处理，或者将其焚化或填埋。而再回收、再加工利用的代价不菲。

Alternatively, recycled plastic could be used to providechemicals to the petrochemical sector, fuels to the transport and aviationsectors, food packaging and many other applications.

此外，可回收塑料可用作石化行业的原材料，运输和航空燃料，食品包装等。

The problems we are now facing are caused by China’sglobal dominance in manufacturing and the way many countries have relied on onemarket to solve their waste and recycling problems. The current situationoffers us an opportunity to find new solutions to our waste problem, increasethe proportion of recycled plastic in our own manufactured products, improvethe quality of recovered materials and to use recycled material in new ways.

现在面临的问题是，由于中国在制造业的全球主导地位，许多国家仅依靠中国来解决废品和回收问题。目前形势为我们找到新的废品处理办法，提供了机会，增加我们产品中再生塑料的比例，提高回收材料的质量，并以新的方式使用回收材料。


Mimir
I notice that Christine Cole  already believes the UK has left the EU :"developed countries including the UK, the EU, the US and Japan" andshe even finds statistics for "EU27". A little early me think.

看来作者认为英国已经脱欧了：“包括英国、欧盟、美国和日本在内的发达国家”，她竟然能找到“欧盟二十七国”的统计数据。我觉得这么说为时过早。

retarius
China bans foreign garbage? Well I guess we'll have tofind some poor 3rd world nations in Africa to dump our trash in. Unexpectedbonus is that this will reduce the traffic in the South China Sea by a hugeamount making it unnecessary for the US to patrol there.

中国禁止外国垃圾？我想我们得在非洲找些第三世界的穷国，把垃圾扔到这些国家。意外好处是，这将大大减少中国南海的交通，这样美国也没有必要去那里巡逻了。

Wonderman
We will do well to ban bottled water.  What a terrible waste as tap water in the UKis actually cleaner (thousands of times less bacterial and minerals).  Australia did it, and was verysuccessful.  We should think the"impossible" as we simply cannot continue to throw plastic wastearound for much longer.

应该禁止瓶装水。英国的自来水更干净，细菌和矿物质含量比瓶装水少了数千倍，用瓶装水太浪费了。澳大利亚就禁止瓶装水，做得很成功。不能因为我们无法把塑料垃圾扔得更远就认为这不可能实现。

Soccerdad
We were in Hawaii a few weeks ago and the staff in thegrocery stores seemed astonished at the concept of plastic bags.  In fact I recall that when I was a kid, paperbags were all that was available and they worked very well.

几周前，我们去夏威夷，杂货店的员工看我们拎着塑料袋，感到很惊讶。我记得小时候用的都是纸袋，纸袋有着也挺好。

Wonderman
The reason paper bags are not used is that they are moreexpensive, less durable and less eco friendly as it takes a lot of energy andwater to pulp wood and process into paper! Just google to see how paper is made and you will be astonished at howwasteful it is.

不使用纸袋的原因是纸袋成本高，不耐用，不环保，因为造纸需要大量的能量和水。谷歌查一下纸是怎么制作的，浪费程度会让人咂舌。

Bar4U
We recycle paper.
Paper / cardboard is far more eco friendly than plastic

纸可以循环使用。
纸、硬纸板比塑料环保多了。

TheAnalyst
Also:
Toxic 'e-waste' dumped in poor nations [particularly inAfrica by the West], says United Nations. - The Guardian 14.12.2013

《卫报》2013年12月14日有篇报道——联合国称，有毒的“电子垃圾”被倾倒在贫穷国家(特别是在非洲西部)。

Freddy
The UK should take it. They'll be reduced to scavengingfor scraps in waste after Brexit so here's a chance to get some practice in.

英国要接受现实。脱欧后，英国人就得捡废品生活了，所以现在正好抓住机会练练。

I Ching, Chang
Environmental rights are essential human rights, and thearena for climate change discussion is now occupied by the EU and China as theUS retreats back between the two major oceans. All persons should takeresponsibility for protecting the world around us. Human security andsustainable development are two of the major tasks of the UN, and all nations –members or not – should comply with its norms. This entails implementing OneWorld under One Set of Laws and giving international law precedence overdomestic law, with direct bearing on the rights and duties of the people. Allnations should comply with the UN Charter, the Paris climate agreement and allother relevant pacts. For details see the Charter for Permanent Peace andDevelopment.

公民环境权是基本人权，讨论气候变化的舞台现在被欧盟和中国占据，而美国以及撤到了两大洋之间。保护世界是所有人的责任。人类安全和可持续发展是联合国的两大主要任务，所有的国家，不管是不是联合国成员，都要遵守联合国规章。整个世界应该执行同一套法律，给予国际法超越国内法的优先权，这将直接影响人民的权利和义务。所有国家都要遵守《联合国宪章》、《巴黎气候协议》和其他相关协议。具体详见《永久和平发展宪章》

In 2019 the EU begins its clamp down on money launderingand tax havens. Cue the frantic lurch to Leave aming the big bosses at the topof the UK.

2019年，欧盟将着手打击洗钱和避税天堂。英国上级社会的大佬们开始疯狂地踉跄离开。

Pyewacket
The mention of fires at Plastics Recycling Firms isindeed prescient. A site in Blackburn, near to where I live, was recently setalight, leading to the evacuation of nearby residential properties. I wasalleged to contain over 10,000 tonnes. The firm reportedly went out of businessthis Summer, and the local paper reported that it was unclear just who nowowned the premises. It then was set alight on two more occasions in thefollowing days, so someone was very determined, although it was blamed on localkids, without any evidence to support the allegation. The place has now beencleared and demolished, but the whole operation must have cost thousands ofpounds, maybe even more that the site was worth.

提到塑料回收公司的火灾绝对有先见之明。布莱克本有个地方，离我住的地方不远，最近着火了，导致附近居民撤离。据说工厂存有10000吨塑料。据报道，这家公司今年夏天破产，当地报纸报道称，目前还不知道这家工厂的业主是谁。接下来几天来又出现两起火灾事故。有些人确认，是周围的小孩引起的火灾，但是没有证据支持。这个地方现在已经被清理和拆除，但是整个清理大药要花费数千英镑，可能比这块地皮都值钱。

foolisholdman
Far more use should be made of returnablecontainers.  Things like drink bottlesand jam jars can be made of toughened glass and used over and over again.  When they eventually break they are more orless, harmless mineral, or even recyclable. A lot of food that is tinned (canned) could be preserved in returnableglass containers.  Economies could bemade merely by using un-toughened glass containers for many things.  Of course, retailers and plasticmanufacturers will be very opposed to the idea, but then they would, wouldn'tthey?

应该大量使用可退回容器。饮料瓶、果酱罐可以使用钢化玻璃，这样就能重复使用。就算最后碎了，也是无害的矿物质，可以回收利用。许多罐装和听装食品都可以使用可退回的玻璃容器。用没有钢化处理的玻璃容器也能节约成本。当然，塑料经销商和制造商会坚决反对这项建议，但是最终他们会接受的，是吧？

Pyewacket
I agree, and yes it should. The problem is the lag timeit will take to make these changes. The UK waste stream consists of two mainelements; Recyclable, which is usually collected, unsorted by the householder,and Residual or non-recyclable waste that goes to Landfill. The tax rate forthe latter is currently set at just over ￡86 per tonne, rising to ￡88 from nextApril. The problem faced by Councils and their contractors will be where tostore the recyclables until new disposal or re-use arrangements can be put inplace. This is set to become a major headache, requiring some serious joined upthinking and co-operation before it is resolved.

我赞同，完全可行。问题是做出这样的改变需要时间。英国泛滥成灾的废品主要包含两块，可回收废品，来自业主的未分类垃圾；另一种是厨余和不可回收的垃圾，直接进入填埋场。后者的税率目前是每吨86英镑多，从明年四月份开始将涨到88英镑。委员会和他们的承包商面临的问题是，在新的处置方法确定之前，如何存储这些可回收垃圾。这才是最头痛的问题，这个问题的解决，需要群策群力、相互合作。

Unikey
"requiring some serious joined up thinking andco-operation before it is resolved"
No chance then

“这个问题的解决，需要群策群力、相互合作。”
没有机会了。

Muscleguy
Here in Dundee the council owns a waste to energy plant,right next to one of the council's big waste centres where us householders andsmall businesses drop off stuff that doesn't fit in the kerbside system or istoo big or too much for those bins.

邓迪市政府将废品送到能源工厂，工厂就在一座大型垃圾处理中心旁边，家庭和小型企业可以将不能仍在街道垃圾处理系统的垃圾，或者对于路边垃圾箱来说太大或者太多大垃圾运到这里。

Any burnable recycling not sold gets burned and energyproduced and sold thus reducing council tax.

所有无法销售的可燃、可回收废品都能焚烧了，然后卖掉焚烧产生的能量，以抵消部分房屋税。

It is not immune from the fires though, its conveyerbelt system went up a couple of years ago severely restricting the operation ofthe plant.

火灾还是无法避免，几年前的老旧传送带系统严重的影响了工厂的运作。

But getting such plants built is not easy. Perth triedto build one but it failed to due to nimby objections. People do not like thesolutions to deal with the waste they produce.

但是建立这样的工厂也不容易。珀斯打算建这样的工厂，但是由于邻避者的反对而失败。人们不喜欢用他们制造垃圾的方式来处理垃圾。
备注：邻避者〔指反对在自家附近进行某种活动或兴建某种建筑的人，含贬义〕

We used to separate paper and cardboard from plasticsand metals but now they all go together in one bin. This seems retrogradeunless there is no price advantage to the separation OR they have an effectivesorting system.

我们过去会将纸和纸板、塑料与金属分开，但是现在所有的垃圾都扔到一个垃圾箱里。这似乎是种倒退，除非某些废品有价格优势，或者能建立有绩效的垃圾分类系统。

There are laser scanners which can determine whichplastic something is made of and send it down an appropriate chute. Metals canbe separated from plastics with water, metals sink, plastics float.

如果有激光扫描设备将塑料制品分离出来，可以将塑料制品通过一个坡道分拣出来。金属可以通过水、金属水槽塑料浮子来分离。

Juvijim
Incineration YES, but this has so demonised by activiststhat authorities shy away from using it. Yet is the most sensible. And wasteshould be recovered in bulk (one bin per household) and sorted for disposal atrecycling centres to take advantage of all combination. All quite simple, butprevented by activists and by councils who are cowards

垃圾焚烧。这种垃圾处理方式已经被一些活跃分子妖魔化了，政府不敢用这种方法。这也是最明智的。挨家挨户回收大量废品，然后在垃圾回收中心分类处理，以便综合利用。垃圾处理就是这么简单，但是活跃分子与胆小的政府却一直在阻挠。

Pyewacket
One problem with Incineration is their emissions, andthe cost of controlling or mitigating their impact is very expensive. TheGovernment is already in trouble over its failure to comply with Air Qualitytargets related to vehicle exhausts, and an added burden produced by burningseveral million tonnes of plastic and low quality paper waste would beenormous.

焚烧会产生排放物，控制或减少排放物的危害成本非常高。政府会因为不能遵守汽车尾气空气质量目标而陷入麻烦，而燃烧数百万吨塑料和低质量的废纸所带来的负担将会更大。

Juvijim
The UK is in the EU, why do you separate them?

英国属于欧盟，为什么要将两者分开？

Anon
But, the UK is still in the EU at this time.
Do you not know this very simple fact?

现在英国还属于欧盟！
这么简单的事情都不知道？