第1549期:Solving the problem of e-waste

One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste – electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.

破坏我们星球的问题之一是我们扔掉的东西的数量。各种垃圾堆积在垃圾填埋场，污染着我们的河流和海洋。我们扔掉的东西清单中最近增加的一项是电子垃圾——损坏且未回收的电子产品。现在正在寻找解决方案来赋予这些东西新的生命。

Many millions of tonnes of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are discarded each year, partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them, but also because we lack the skills to repair them. A UN report claims the 50 million tonnes of e-waste generated every year will more than double to 110 million tonnes by 2050, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the world.

每年有数百万吨的电视、电话和其他电子设备被丢弃，部分原因是更换它们比修理它们便宜，但也因为我们缺乏修理它们的技能。联合国的一份报告称，到 2050 年，每年产生的 5000 万吨电子垃圾将增加一倍以上，达到 1.1 亿吨，成为世界上增长最快的废物流。

However, there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London, which is one of many found around the world. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo, said that "this project allows you to reduce waste, extend the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault."

然而，维修活动和俱乐部的发展趋势正在增长，这可能是解决越来越多的电气和电子垃圾的解决方案的一部分。英国广播公司参观了伦敦的一个重启项目，这是世界各地发现的众多项目之一。它的一名志愿者 Francesco Calo 说：“这个项目可以让你减少浪费，延长物品的使用寿命，它可以帮助那些负担不起的人摆脱出现故障的物品。”

As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting these materials from electronic gadgets. It’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 elements, this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.

由于许多电子产品都含有贵金属，另一个想法是电子垃圾开采。新南威尔士大学的一项实验涉及从电子产品中提取这些材料。人们认为这样做可能比传统采矿更有利可图。手机通常包含多达 60 个元素，这可能是满足我们对新技术需求的一部分。

These projects make total sense - collections of e-waste for recycling are “stagnating or even decreasing” according to Ruediger Kuehr, of the United Nations University. And in countries where there is no legislation, much of it just gets dumped.  However, the European Union, for example, is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.

这些项目完全有意义——根据联合国大学的 Ruediger Kuehr 的说法，用于回收的电子垃圾的收集“停滞不前甚至减少”。而在没有立法的国家，大部分只是被倾倒。然而，例如，欧盟正试图通过坚持制造商必须使电器更耐用并且必须为机器提供长达 10 年的备件来解决这个问题。

词汇表

throw away 丢弃，扔掉
rubbish 垃圾
landfill 垃圾填埋场
pollute 污染
e-waste 电子垃圾（废弃的电器和电子产品）
recycled 回收再利用的
discarded 被扔掉
repair 修理
waste stream 废物流
junk 破烂，废弃的东西
extend the life 延长（使用）寿命
get rid 丢弃
fault 故障
extract 提取
recycling 回收利用
stagnating 停滞不前的
legislation 立法
dumped 被乱扔掉
longer-lasting 更耐用的
spare parts 备用配件