中國限制“洋垃圾”令英國出口商犯愁

A ban from Beijing on importing low-grade waste will affect roughly half the plastic that the UK currently sends to China for recycling, according to the waste industry.

據廢物處理行業估計，英國目前出口到中國供回收利用的塑料垃圾將有一半左右會受到中國禁止進口低等級廢物的影響。

Britain has become dependent on China for low-cost recycling to meet its environmental targets and has shipped 2.7m tons of plastic waste to China and Hong Kong since 2012, according to a report by Greenpeace, the environmental campaign group.

根據環保組織綠色和平(Greenpeace)的一份報告，英國在低成本回收處理垃圾以滿足其環境目標方面依賴中國，自2012年以來，英國向中國內地和香港出口了270萬噸塑料垃圾。

But in July, China told the World Trade Organization that it intended to halt the import of 24 grades of plastic, textiles and paper, which it said were often contaminated with dirty or hazardous material. Plastics, including PVC and polyethylene, will be covered by the ban, as well as mixed batches of paper and cardboard.

但今年7月，中國知會世界貿易組織(WTO)，將停止進口廢棄的塑料、紡織品和紙張等24類廢物，中國表示，這些廢物經常被骯髒或危險材料汙染。禁令將涵蓋聚氯乙烯(PVC)和聚乙烯(PE)等塑料以及各種紙張和硬紙板。

The consequences could be dramatic both for waste companies and local councils, according to the minutes of a meeting in September between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and representatives of the industry.

9月英國環境、食品與農村事務部(Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)與該行業代表召開了一次會議，根據會議紀要，中國的禁令對英國廢物回收公司和地方市政當局都可能帶來巨大影響。

The exchanges, obtained through a freedom of information request by Greenpeace, show that as much as 50 per cent of plastic waste exports will not meet China’s new criteria.

綠色和平組織依據資訊自由法申請獲得的會議內容顯示，英國多達50%的塑料垃圾出口將不符合中國的新標準。

“Tonnages involved would be in the region of 70,000 to 80,000 per quarter of plastic packaged waste?.?.?.?No alternative markets are available for these quantities of waste?.?.?.?Storage levels within the UK will become tight quickly,” according to a handout from Defra circulated at the meeting.

環境、食品與農村事務部在會上發放的一份材料稱：“涉及的塑料廢物每季度將在7萬噸至8萬噸之間……其他市場無法接收這麼多的廢物……英國境內的儲存能力將迅速吃緊。”

In an email thread between the meeting’s attendees, released as part of the FOI, an employee of IWPP, a paper waste disposal company, said: “I simply cannot stress enough the impact this will have on the industry supply chain if these changes are brought in their current form.”

依據“資訊自由法”公佈的材料還包括與會者相互之間的郵件往來，其中廢紙處理公司IWPP的一名員工表示：“我一點都不誇張地說，行業供應鏈將受到極大的影響，如果真的發生那樣的變化的話。”

In the same thread, an employee of 360 Environmental, a waste consultancy company, claimed that the UK exported 264,729 tonnes of plastic to China last year, more than a third of total plastic exports.

廢物處理諮詢公司360 Environmental的一名員工在郵件中聲稱，去年英國向中國出口了26.4729萬噸塑料，超過塑料出口總量的三分之一。

That waste may now need to be “landfilled, incinerated or stockpiled here”, said Libby Peake, senior policy adviser for think-tank Green Alliance.

智庫Green Alliance高階政策顧問利比?皮克(Libby Peake)表示，今後這些廢物可能需要在國內“填埋、焚燒或堆放”。

Adam Read, a spokesman for Suez, a waste processing company with 70 local authority clients, said: “Over decades, market forces have pushed re-processing activity to Asia, but we are now seeing the tap can be turned off.

擁有70個地方市政當局客戶的廢物處理公司蘇伊士(Suez)發言人亞當?瑞德(Adam Read)表示：“幾十年來，市場力量將廢物再處理業務推向亞洲，但我們現在看到這條路可能被封鎖。”

“The changes in China should be a wake-up call for the UK government to re-shore this valuable activity by setting clear, high-reaching sustainability ambitions that closely align industrial and environmental policy.”

“中國的變化應該給英國政府敲響警鐘，提醒他們通過制定清晰、可持續並使行業政策和環境政策相契合的遠大目標，讓這塊有價值的業務迴流本國。”

Suez, whose clients include the cities of Bristol and Aberdeen, has been exporting to alternative EU and Asian markets since April as well as exploring the possibility of using the material for fuel and chemical production, he added.

蘇伊士公司的客戶中包括布里斯托市和阿伯丁市。瑞德補充稱，自今年4月以來，該公司一直在出口到其他的歐盟和亞洲市場，同時在探討把這些垃圾用於生產燃料和化學品的可能性。

Some companies, such as Veolia, which manages the waste of local authorities including Haringey and Birmingham, already process all the recycling they collect in the UK and Europe.

一些公司已自己處理它們從英國和歐洲回收的所有垃圾，例如處理哈林蓋和伯明翰等地垃圾的威立雅(Veolia)。

Local councils are already trying to adapt. Local authorities in Norfolk, which collectively send 38,000 tonnes of material to Asia each year, said they were altering the way they sorted their materials in an effort to meet the new Chinese grading requirements and had invested ￡8 million over the past ten years in their systems.

地方當局已在努力適應新情況。諾福克地方市政當局每年向亞洲出口3.8萬噸垃圾，他們表示，正改變垃圾分類的方法，以達到中國的垃圾分級新要求，過去10年他們已向垃圾處理系統投資800萬英鎊。

Other key destinations for UK recycling exports are Vietnam, which imported 32,000 tonnes of plastic waste last year, and India, which imported the same amount over the same period, according to Greenpeace research.

根據綠色和平組織的研究報告，英國回收垃圾出口的另外兩個重要目的地是越南和印度，越南去年從英國進口3.2萬噸塑料垃圾，印度同期的進口量相當。

Ms Peake of Green Alliance added: “In the short term, other markets, including Vietnam and India, will be able to pick up some of the slack, but these will soon be saturated and, in the long term, these countries also will not want to be saddled with poor quality material.”

Green Alliance的皮克補充稱：“短期而言，其他市場，包括越南和印度，能夠接收一部分，但這些市場將很快飽和，長期而言，這些國家同樣不會希望承接低質量的垃圾。”

Defra said: “We are continuing to work with the waste industry and the Environment Agency to understand the impact across the sector of the Chinese government’s proposed restrictions on waste imports.

環境、食品與農村事務部表示：“我們正繼續與廢物處理行業以及英國環境局(Environment Agency)合作，以瞭解中國政府擬議的廢物進口限制對整個行業的影響。”

“We are also looking at ways to process more of our recycling at home as part of our resources and waste strategy.”

“作為我們的資源和垃圾處理戰略的一部分，我們也在想辦法在國內處理更多的回收垃圾。”

The UK announced in last month’s Budget a review of taxes or charges on single-use plastics such as takeaway cartons and packaging in a bid to reduce the impact of such waste on marine life, a problem highlighted in the BBC programme Blue Planet.

在上月公佈的《預算報告》中，英國宣佈對單一用途塑料的稅賦或收費進行評估，例如外賣餐盒和包裝，旨在減少這類垃圾對海洋生物的影響，英國廣播公司(BBC)的節目《藍色星球》(Blue Planet)深入地反映了這個問題。

Meanwhile, Michael Gove, the environment secretary, is reviewing the potential use of a deposit return scheme for bottles, and this week called for the aid department to increase spending on cutting plastic pollution in oceans.

與此同時，英國環境大臣邁克爾?戈夫(Michael Gove)正對可能引入塑料瓶押金退還機制展開評估，本週他呼籲援助部門加大在減少海洋塑料汙染方面的支出。

The consequences of the new ban are already being felt. There have been 39 arrests so far in China for attempts to import illegal waste, while in Hong Kong, paper waste is being piled up in the streets because it can no longer be taken to the Chinese mainland.

中國垃圾進口禁令的影響已開始顯現。迄今中國內地有39人因試圖進口非法垃圾被捕；在香港，廢紙堆積在街頭，因為這些垃圾無法再進入中國內地。