回收系统崩溃了吗？
Is the recycling system broken?
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
大家好，这里是BBC教学英语的《六分钟英语》，我是尼尔。
And I'm Georgina.
我是乔治娜。
Sorry I was late today, Georgina.
抱歉我今天迟到了，乔治娜。
I'd forgotten to take the recycling bins out before the rubbish collection this morning.
今天早上收垃圾之前，我忘记把回收箱拿出去了。
I seem to have more and more plastic packaging each week!
我似乎每周都有越来越多的塑料包装！
Actually, that's the topic of our programme.
事实上，那就是我们节目的主题。
With more and more household waste being either incinerated – that's burned - or being buried underground,
随着越来越多的生活垃圾要么被焚毁——也就是被焚烧，要么被埋在地下，
we'll be asking - is the recycling system broken?
那我们就要问了，回收系统崩溃了吗？
China used to accept 55% of the world's plastic and paper scrap – another word for unwanted waste - or in other words, rubbish.
中国过去接收了全世界55%的塑料和废纸——指代无用垃圾的另一个单词——或者换句话说就是垃圾。
That included waste sent over from Britain.
其中包括从英国运来的垃圾。
But in 2018 it stopped taking any more.
但在2018年，中国停止接收垃圾。
Other countries like Indonesia and Vietnam took over China's waste processing role.
印度尼西亚和越南等其他国家接手了中国进行垃圾处理角色。
But they too are now sending much of the scrap back,
但这些国家现在也把大部分废料送了回去，
arguing it is contaminated and it is harming their own environments.
称这些废料受到污染，正在破坏他们自己国家的环境。
This has created major problems for countries in the West who traditionally relied on others to process their recycling waste.
这给西方国家带来了大问题，西方国家传统上依赖其他国家来处理可回收废物。
And the problem isn't going away.
问题并没有消失。
In fact we are creating more household waste than ever.
事实上，我们正在制造比以往任何时候都多的生活垃圾。
So here's my quiz question.
所以这就是我的测试问题。
On average, how many kilograms of household waste were generated per person in the UK last year?
去年英国平均每人产生多少千克的生活垃圾？
Was it: a) 280 kg, b) 480 kg or c) 680 kg?
是a) 280千克，b) 480千克，还是c) 680千克？
That sounds like a lot of waste!
那听起来像是很多垃圾！
I'll say a) 280 kg.
我选a) 280千克。
OK. We'll find out later if you were right.
好的。我们稍后将揭晓你是否正确。
Although nowadays people are recycling more, the use of plastic isn't decreasing at the same rate.
虽然现在人们回收得多了，但对塑料的使用却没有以同样的速度减少。
The BBC World Service's programme The Inquiry spoke to Roland Geyer, a professor at the University of California about the current situation.
BBC全球服务节目The Inquiry和加州大学罗兰·盖尔教授谈到了垃圾回收的现状。
There's been a real raise in consciousness which is fantastic,
人们的意识有了真正提高，这很棒，
and I'm really glad that now it seems the public at large is really interested in this issue,
我真的很高兴现在广大公众似乎真的对这个问题感兴趣，
and appalled and wants to do something about it, wants to change it.
他们很震惊，想要对此做些什么，想要改变它。
But at the same time I don't see yet any real action that would make things better,
但与此同时，我还没有看到任何能让情况变好的实际行动，
because while all of this is happening the virgin plastic industry is actually increasing its production capacity.
因为在这一切发生的同时，原始塑料行业实际上正在提高其产能。
Workers who process recycling are often exposed to dangerous waste materials which can harm them.
处理回收的工人经常接触到对他们有害的危险废料。
Professor Geyer says there has been a raise in consciousness about this problem
盖尔教授说，人们对这个问题的意识有所提高，
– meaning that people are being told about an unfair situation with the aim of asking them to help change it.
这意味着人们被告知一种不公平的情况，目的是要让他们帮忙改变这种情况。
Now, professor Geyer is an American and he uses 'raise' as a noun.
盖尔教授是美国人，他把“raise”用作名词。
The main problem comes from virgin plastic - original, unused plastic containers.
主要问题来自原始塑料——原始的，未使用的塑料容器。
These are made directly from fossil fuels like crude oil or natural gas - major sources of carbon dioxide and climate change.
它们直接由像原油或天然气这样的化石燃料制成，它们是二氧化碳和气候变化的主要来源。
But consciousness raising of this issue is having an impact.
但对该问题的意识的提高正在产生影响。
The public at large – meaning most people in the world, rather than just some of them
广大公众——意思是世界上大多数人，而不仅仅是一些人
– are concerned about the increase in plastic waste and want to do something to help.
——担忧塑料垃圾增加，想做些什么来帮忙。
However, it's not always easy to know what the best way to help is.
然而，要知道最好的帮助方法是什么并不总是那么容易。
Another expert, Professor Monic Sun, believes that focusing only on recycling may not be the best idea.
另一位专家莫尼克·孙教授认为，只关注回收可能不是最好的主意。
She conducted psychological experiments to find out more about peoples' attitudes to recycling…
她进行了心理实验来更多地了解人们对回收的态度。
..and surprisingly found that if people know recycling is an option they tend to use more resources.
她惊奇地发现，如果人们知道回收是一种选择，他们就会倾向于使用更多资源。
They reduce any guilty feelings by telling themselves that the material will be recycled anyway.
他们通过告诉自己这些材料无论如何都会被回收来减少负罪感。
We have the slogan of 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle' and the priority should be exactly that – reduce and reuse is better than recycling.
我们的口号是“减少使用、重复使用、回收利用”，而且应该优先考虑的是——减少使用和重复使用比回收利用更好。
And the cost of recycling is often not emphasised enough.
回收利用的成本往往没有得到足够的重视。
People perceive recycling to be great but there's actually significant labour and material costs associated with recycling.
人们认为回收利用很好，但回收利用实际上涉及巨大的劳动力和材料成本。
Professor Sun mentions 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle' as a useful slogan
孙教授提到“减少使用、重复使用、回收利用”是一个有用的口号
- ashort, easily remembered phrase, often used to promote an idea,
——一个简短易记的短语，经常被用来宣传一种观点，
in this case that we should all do what we can to protect the environment.
在这里是指我们都应该尽己所能来保护环境。
But while protecting the planet is a common goal, recycling in itself may not be so important.
尽管保护地球是一个共同目标，但回收本身可能并没那么重要。
It's better to reduce and reuse than recycle,
减少使用和重复使用比回收利用更好，
so these two objectives should be emphasised - highlighted as being especially important.
因此这两个目标应该被强调——由于尤其重要而突显出来。
Do you remember my quiz question?
你还记得我的测试问题吗？
I asked you how many kilograms of waste the average British person generated last year.
我问你去年平均每个英国人产生了多少千克的垃圾。
I reckoned it was a) 280 kg.
我猜测是a) 280千克。
That would be bad enough, but the real answer is b) 480 kg.
那就已经够糟了，但真正的答案是b) 480千克。
Multiply that by the UK population of 66 million and you start to see the size of the problem!
再乘以英国6600万的人口，你就会开始看到问题的严重性了！
Today we've been talking about the problems associated with recycling scrap – another word for rubbish.
今天我们一直在谈论与回收废料相关的问题——废料是指代垃圾的另一个单词。
Western countries used to send their rubbish to China for recycling but this caused issues for the local environment.
西方国家过去常常把垃圾运到中国进行回收，但这给当地环境造成了问题。
Some groups raised consciousness about the problem
一些组织提高了对这个问题的意识
– made people aware of the situation to encourage them to help change it.
——让人们了解到这种情况来鼓励他们帮忙改变这种情况。
The public at large – most people in the world – are now aware of the need to 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle',
广大公众——世界上大多数人——现在都意识到“减少使用、重复使用、回收利用”的必要性，
the slogan – or short, memorable phrase – used by environmentalists to spread their message.
这个口号——或简短易记的短语——被环保主义者用来传播信息。
A related problem is the increase of virgin plastic – original, unused plastic made from fossil fuels.
一个相关的问题是原始塑料的增加——那是指由化石燃料制成的，未经使用的，原始的塑料。
Recycling is unable to keep pace with virgin plastic production,
回收无法跟上原始塑料的生产步伐，
so instead reducing and reusing plastic should be emphasised - highlighted as being especially important.
因此减少及重复使用塑料制品应该得到强调——由于尤其重要而突显出来。
And that's all from us.
以上就是我们今天的全部内容。
Bye for now.
再见了。
Bye.
拜。