中國“洋垃圾”禁令給美國帶來廢品回收難題

Oregon is serious about recycling. Its residents are accustomed to dutifully separating milk cartons, yogurt containers, cereal boxes and kombucha bottles from their trash to divert them from the landfill. But this year, because of a far-reaching rule change in China, some of the recyclables are ending up in the local dump anyway.

俄勒岡州對廢品回收是認真的。當?shù)鼐用褚呀浟晳T了要將牛奶紙盒、酸奶容器、麥片盒和紅茶菌瓶子從垃圾中分出來，這樣它們就不會送到垃圾填埋場。但今年，由于在中國作出了一個影響深遠的規(guī)則變化，一些可回收物最終還是被丟棄在了當?shù)氐睦鴪觥?/p>

In recent months, in fact, thousands of tons of material left curbside for recycling in dozens of American cities and towns — including several in Oregon — have gone to landfills.

事實上，近幾個月來，數(shù)十個美國城鎮(zhèn)，包括俄勒岡州的幾個在內，數(shù)以千噸計留在路邊的回收材料被送到了垃圾填埋場。

In the past, the municipalities would have shipped much of their used paper, plastics and other scrap materials to China for processing. But as part of a broad antipollution campaign, China announced last summer that it no longer wanted to import “foreign garbage.” Since Jan. 1 it has banned imports of various types of plastic and paper, and tightened standards for materials it does accept.

在過去，地方政府會把他們用過的大多數(shù)紙張、塑料和其他廢品運到中國進行處理。但作為一場廣泛反污染運動的一部分，中國在去年夏天宣布，不再進口“洋垃圾”。“自1月1日起，中國禁止進口各類塑料和紙張，并提高了那些它接受的材料的標準。

While some waste managers already send their recyclable materials to be processed domestically, or are shipping more to other countries, others have been unable to find a substitute for the Chinese market. “All of a sudden, material being collected on the street doesn’t have a place to go,” said Pete Keller, vice president of recycling and sustainability at Republic Services, one of the largest waste managers in the country.

雖然一些廢品公司已經改為在國內處理可回收材料，或者把更多材料運往其他的國家，但也有一些廢品公司一直未能找到中國的替代市場。美國最大的廢品管理公司之一共和服務(Republic Services)負責回收和可持續(xù)發(fā)展的副總裁皮特·凱勒(Pete Keller)說：“突然間，在街頭收集的廢品沒有地方可去了。”

China’s stricter requirements also mean that loads of recycling are more likely to be considered contaminated if they contain materials that are not recyclable. That has compounded a problem that waste managers call wishful or aspirational recycling: people setting aside items for recycling because they believe or hope they are recyclable, even when they aren’t.

由于中國的要求更嚴格了，這意味著如果廢品中含有不可回收的材料，則更有可能被視為污染物。這令廢品公司稱之為一廂情愿或目的型回收的問題復雜化了：人們之所以把物品單獨放在一邊用來回收，是因為他們相信或希望它們可以被回收再利用，即使它們不能。

In the Pacific Northwest, Republic has diverted more than 2,000 tons of paper to landfills since the Chinese ban came into effect, Mr. Keller said. The company has been unable to move that material to a market “at any price or cost,” he said. Though Republic is dumping only a small portion of its total inventory so far — the company handles over five million tons of recyclables nationwide each year — it sent little to no paper to landfills last year.

凱勒說，自從中國的禁令生效以來，共和服務在西北太平洋地區(qū)已經將2000多噸廢紙轉移到了垃圾填埋場。他說，公司無法“以任何價格或成本”將這些材料轉移到別的市場。雖然共和服務到目前為止只傾棄了其總庫存的一小部分——該公司每年在全美國處理500多萬噸可再生材料——但它去年很少，甚至根本沒有將廢紙送到垃圾填埋場。

But for smaller companies, like Rogue Disposal and Recycling, which serves much of Oregon, the Chinese ban has upended operations. Rogue sent all its recycling to landfills for the first few months of the year, said Garry Penning, a spokesman.

但對于小公司，比如為俄勒岡州大部分地區(qū)提供服務的羅格處理回收(Rogue Disposal and Recycling)而言，中國的禁令已經令業(yè)務傾覆。這家公司的發(fā)言人加里·潘寧(Garry Penning)表示，今年的頭幾個月，它把所有可回收物都送到了垃圾填埋場。

Western states, which have relied the most on Chinese recycling plants, have been hit especially hard. In some areas — like Eugene, Ore., and parts of Idaho, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii — local officials and garbage haulers will no longer accept certain items for recycling, in some cases refusing most plastics, glass and certain types of paper. Instead, they say, customers should throw these items in the trash.

最依賴中國回收廠的西部州受到的打擊尤為嚴重。在一些地區(qū)，比如俄勒岡的尤金、愛達荷部分地區(qū)、華盛頓、阿拉斯加和夏威夷，當?shù)毓賳T和垃圾運輸車將不再接受某些回收物，在某些情況下拒絕接受大多數(shù)塑料、玻璃和某些類型的廢紙。相反，他們說，消費者應該把這些東西扔進垃圾桶。

Theresa Byrne, who lives in Salem, Ore., said the city took too long to inform residents that most plastics and egg and milk cartons were now considered garbage. “I was angry,” she said. “I believe in recycling.”

住在俄勒岡薩利姆的特雷莎·伯恩(Theresa Byrne)表示，該市拖了太久才通知居民，大多數(shù)塑料制品、雞蛋和牛奶盒現(xiàn)在都被視為垃圾。“我很生氣，”她說。“我相信回收的理念。”

Other communities, like Grants Pass, Ore., home to about 37,000 people, are continuing to encourage their residents to recycle as usual, but the materials are winding up in landfills anyway. Local waste managers said they were concerned that if they told residents to stop recycling, it could be hard to get them to start again.

其他社區(qū)，比如約3.7萬人的俄勒岡格蘭茨帕斯，則繼續(xù)鼓勵居民像往常一樣回收，但這些材料仍會被堆到填埋場。當?shù)氐膹U品公司表示，他們擔心，如果讓居民停止回收，以后可能很難讓他們再重新開始。

The fallout has spread beyond the West Coast. Ben Harvey, the president of E.L. Harvey & Sons, a recycling company based in Westborough, Mass., said that he had around 6,000 tons of paper and cardboard piling up, when he would normally have a couple hundred tons stockpiled. The bales are filling almost half of his 80,000-square-foot facility.

這個附帶效應已擴散到西海岸以外。本·哈維(Ben Harvey)是總部位于馬薩諸塞州韋斯特堡的(E.L. Harvey & Sons)回收公司的總裁，他說他的公司通常有幾百噸的庫存，現(xiàn)在堆積了大約6000噸的廢紙和紙板。在他約7400平方米的場地中，幾乎有一半的空間里已經被廢品包填滿。

“It’s really impacted our day-to-day operations,” Mr. Harvey said. “It’s stifling me.”

“這確實影響了我們的日常運營，”哈維說。“真讓我透不過氣來。”

Recyclers in Canada, Australia, Britain, Germany and other parts of Europe have also scrambled to find alternatives.

加拿大、澳大利亞、英國、德國和歐洲其他地區(qū)的回收商也在匆忙尋找替代。

Still, across much of the United States, including most major cities, recycling is continuing as usual. Countries like India, Vietnam and Indonesia are importing more of the materials that are not processed domestically. And some waste companies have responded to China’s ban by stockpiling material while looking for new processors, or hoping that China reconsiders its policy.

盡管如此，在美國許多地區(qū)，包括大部分重要城市，回收仍在照常進行。印度、越南和印度尼西亞等國正在進口更多并非本國加工的材料。一些垃圾公司已經通過儲備材料來應對中國的禁令，同時尋找新的加工商，或指望中國重新考慮其政策。

Americans recycle roughly 66 million tons of material each year, according to the most recent figures from the Environmental Protection Agency, about one-third of which is exported. The majority of those exports once went to China, said David Biderman, the executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America, a research and advocacy group.

據(jù)環(huán)境保護局(Environmental Protection Agency)最新數(shù)據(jù)顯示，美國人每年回收約6600萬噸材料，其中約三分之一出口。研究和倡導組織北美固體廢棄物協(xié)會(Solid Waste Association of North America)總干事戴維·比德曼(David Biderman)說，過去這些出口大部分運往中國。

But American scrap exports to China fell by about 35 percent in the first two months of this year, after the ban was implemented, said Joseph Pickard, chief economist for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, a trade group.

貿易組織美國廢料回收行業(yè)協(xié)會(Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries)首席經濟學家約瑟夫·皮卡德(Joseph Pickard)說，今年頭兩個月，美國對中國的廢鋼出口下降了約35%，這是禁令實施后的結果。

“It’s a huge concern, because China has just been such a dominant overseas market for us,” Mr. Pickard said.

“這是一個非常令人擔憂的問題，因為中國對我們來說是一個首要的海外市場，”皮卡德說。

In particular, exports of scrap plastic to China, valued at more than $300 million in 2015, totaled just $7.6 million in the first quarter of this year, down 90 percent from a year earlier, Mr. Pickard said. Other countries have stepped in to accept more plastics, but total scrap plastic exports are still down by 40 percent this year, he said.

皮卡德說，尤其是2015年第一季度對中國出口額超過3億美元的廢塑料，今年第一季度僅為760萬美元，同比下降90%。他表示，其他國家已經加入進來，開始接收更多塑料，但今年廢塑料出口總量仍下降了40%。

“There is a significant disruption occurring to U.S. recycling programs,” Mr. Biderman said. “The concern is if this is the new normal.” “美國的回收計劃出現(xiàn)了嚴重動蕩，”比德曼說。“我們擔心這會不會是新的常態(tài)。”

Curbside recycling is typically hauled by a private company to a sorting plant, where marketable goods are separated out. Companies or local governments then sell the goods to domestic or overseas processors. Some states and cities prohibit these companies from dumping plastic, paper and cardboard, but some local officials — including in Oregon, Massachusetts and various municipalities in Washington State — have granted waivers so that unmarketable materials can be sent to the landfill.

路邊回收通常由私人公司運往分揀工廠，在那里，可銷售的商品被分離出來。然后公司或地方政府將貨物出售給國內或海外加工商。一些州和城市禁止這些公司丟棄塑料、紙張和紙板，但一些當?shù)毓賳T(包括俄勒岡州、馬薩諸塞州，以及華盛頓州的一些城市)已批準豁免，可將無法出售的材料送到垃圾填埋場。

Recycling companies “used to get paid” by selling off recyclable materials, said Peter Spendelow, a policy analyst for the Department of Environmental Quality in Oregon. “Now they’re paying to have someone take it away.”

回收公司出售可循環(huán)利用的材料“在過去會得到報酬，”俄勒岡州環(huán)境質量部(Department of Environmental Quality)政策分析員彼得·斯潘德羅(Peter Spendelow)說。“現(xiàn)在他們付錢讓別人拿走。”

In some places, including parts of Idaho, Maine and Pennsylvania, waste managers are continuing to recycle but are passing higher costs on to customers, or are considering doing so.

在一些地方，包括艾奧瓦州、緬因州和賓夕法尼亞州的部分地區(qū)，廢物管理者正在繼續(xù)回收利用，但將提高的成本轉嫁給客戶，或者正在考慮這樣做。

While China has entirely banned 24 materials, including post-consumer plastic and mixed paper, it has also demanded that other materials, such as cardboard and scrap metal, be only 0.5 percent impure. Even a small amount of food scraps or other rubbish, if undetected, can ruin a batch of recycling.

中國完全禁止了包括消費后塑料和混合紙在內的24種材料，同時它還要求其他材料(如紙板和廢金屬)雜質在0.5%以內。若是有少量的食物殘渣或其他垃圾未被發(fā)現(xiàn)，可能會導致一整批回收物遭殃。

Some waste managers say that China’s new contamination standards are impossible to meet, while others are trying to clean up their recycling streams by slowing down their processing facilities, limiting the types of materials they accept or trying to better educate customers on what belongs in the recycling bin.

一些垃圾管理者說，中國污染新標準是不可能達到的，其他一些企業(yè)則試圖通過采取措施清理回收物流，包括放慢加工設施運行，限制接受的材料類型，以及嘗試更好地教育客戶垃圾桶中什么樣的物品可以回收。

Mr. Bell, the Waste Management executive, said he had seen everything from Christmas lights to animal carcasses to artillery shells come through the company’s recycling facilities. “Most of our facilities get a bowling ball every day or two,” he said.

廢物管理公司主管貝爾說，他在公司的回收設施里見過各種各樣的東西，從圣誕燈、動物尸體到炮彈。“我們大部分設施里每隔一兩天就會看到一個保齡球，”他說。

Some materials can ruin a load, he said, while others pose fire or health hazards and can force facilities to slow their operations and in some cases temporarily shut down. (And a bowling ball could do serious damage to the equipment.) Approximately 25 percent of all recycling picked up by Waste Management is contaminated to the point that it is sent to landfills, Mr. Bell said.

他說，有些材料可能會毀掉一批物品，還有一些則會造成火災或健康危害，并可能迫使設施放慢運行速度，在某些情況下還會導致暫時關閉。(保齡球可能會嚴重損壞設備。)貝爾說，廢物管理公司回收的大約25%的垃圾是被污染的，到了應當被送到垃圾填埋場的地步。

Recyclers have always disposed of some of their materials. But the percentage has climbed as China and other buyers of recyclable material have ratcheted up quality standards.

回收商一直在自行處置他們的一些材料。但隨著中國和其他可回收材料的買家收緊質量標準，自行處置的比例在上升。

Most contamination, Mr. Bell said, happens when people try to recycle materials they shouldn’t. Disposable coffee cups — which are usually lined with a thin film that makes them liquid-proof but challenging and expensive to reprocess — are an example. Unwashed plastics can also cause contamination.

貝爾說，大多數(shù)污染是在人們回收不應該回收的材料時發(fā)生的。比如一次性咖啡杯通常襯著防水薄膜，會導致再加工變得困難而且昂貴。未清洗的塑料也會造成污染。

“If we don’t get it clean, we’re not going to be able to market it, and if we can’t market it unfortunately it’s going to go to the landfill,” said Mr. Penning, the Rogue spokesman. In March, Rogue told customers to put everything in the trash except for corrugated cardboard, milk jugs, newspapers and tin and aluminum cans, which the company is finding domestic markets for, Mr. Penning said.

“如果我們沒有把它們清理干凈，就無法推向市場，如果我們不能將其推向市場，不幸的是，它們就會進入垃圾填埋場，”羅格公司發(fā)言人潘寧說。他說公司在3月告訴客戶，除了正在尋找國內市場的瓦楞紙板、牛奶罐，報紙、錫罐以及鋁罐，其他物品都要放在垃圾桶里。

Rogue customers who make mistakes might see an “Oops” sticker the next time they check their recycling bin, he said.

他說，弄錯的羅格客戶下一次打開回收箱時可能會看到一張寫著“Oops”(哎喲)的貼紙。