環(huán)保太給力 瑞典已實(shí)現(xiàn)“零垃圾”

Sweden is so good at recycling that, for several years, it has imported rubbish from other countries to keep its recycling plants going. Less than 1 percent of Swedish household waste was sent to landfill last year or any year since 2011.

這些年瑞典的環(huán)保工作做得太出色了，如今甚至要從其他國(guó)家進(jìn)口垃圾，才能讓本國(guó)的回收工廠繼續(xù)運(yùn)營(yíng)下去。去年，瑞典送入垃圾場(chǎng)的生活垃圾不足總量的1%，這種情況一直從2011年持續(xù)到現(xiàn)在。

We can only dream of such an effective system in the UK, which is why we end up paying expensive transport costs to send rubbish to be recycled overseas rather than paying fines to send it to landfill under The Landfill Tax of 1996.

如此高效的系統(tǒng)在英國(guó)是不可想象的。這就是為什么英國(guó)人要花費(fèi)高昂的運(yùn)輸費(fèi)，把垃圾送到海外的回收站，因?yàn)槿绻\(yùn)到本國(guó)的垃圾填埋地的話，依照1996年垃圾填埋稅就要支付罰款。

Why are we sending waste to Sweden? Their system is so far ahead because of a culture of looking after the environment. Sweden was one of the first countries to implement a heavy tax on fossil fuels in 1991 and now sources almost half its electricity from renewables.

為什么要把垃圾送到瑞典?因?yàn)槿鸬淙擞斜Ｗo(hù)環(huán)境的文化傳統(tǒng)，所以他們的系統(tǒng)很先進(jìn)。瑞典是1991年第一批開(kāi)始對(duì)化石燃料征收重稅的國(guó)家之一。如今該國(guó)近一半的電力供應(yīng)來(lái)自可再生能源。

“Swedish people are quite keen on being out in nature and they are aware of what we need do on nature and environmental issues. We worked on communications for a long time to make people aware not to throw things outdoors so that we can recycle and reuse,” says Anna-Carin Gripwall, director of communications for Avfall Sverige, the Swedish Waste Management’s recycling association.

瑞典垃圾管理回收協(xié)會(huì)Avfall Sverige的交流主任安娜•凱琳•格里普沃表示，“瑞典人很喜歡擁抱大自然，也知道采取哪些措施來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)環(huán)境問(wèn)題。長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)，我們都努力和人們進(jìn)行溝通，好讓他們不在戶(hù)外亂扔垃圾，這樣有利于我們對(duì)垃圾的回收和再利用。”

Over time, Sweden has implemented a cohesive national recycling policy so that even though private companies undertake most of the business of importing and burning waste, the energy goes into a national heating network to heat homes through the freezing Swedish winter.

在過(guò)去的時(shí)間里，瑞典推行了一項(xiàng)連貫的全國(guó)性回收政策，這樣一來(lái)，盡管私企承擔(dān)了大部分垃圾進(jìn)口和焚燒業(yè)務(wù)，產(chǎn)生的能源還是能用于國(guó)家供暖系統(tǒng)，在瑞典寒冷的冬天里溫暖千家萬(wàn)戶(hù)。

“That’s a key reason that we have this district network, so we can make use of the heating from the waste plants. In the southern part of Europe they don’t make use of the heating from the waste, it just goes out the chimney. Here we use it as a substitute for fossil fuel,” Ms Gripwall says.

格里普沃女士表示：“這是我們建立這一區(qū)域系統(tǒng)的主要原因，這樣我們才能利用垃圾焚燒產(chǎn)生的熱量。歐洲南部的國(guó)家不會(huì)利用垃圾焚燒來(lái)提供熱量，而是任憑熱量從煙囪冒出去，我們則用它來(lái)替代化石燃料。”

Sweden’s heating network is not without its detractors. They argue that the country is dodging real recycling by sending waste to be incinerated. Paper plant managers say that wood fibre can be used up to six times before it becomes dust. If Sweden burns paper before that point it is exhausting the potential for true recycling and replacing used paper with fresh raw material.

也有人對(duì)瑞典供暖系統(tǒng)提出質(zhì)疑。他們認(rèn)為瑞典焚燒垃圾并不是真正的垃圾回收利用。造紙商表示，在燒毀前，木材纖維還可以循環(huán)利用六次。真正的回收是把用過(guò)的紙轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)樾碌脑?，如果瑞典在還未充分循環(huán)利用前就燒毀紙張，它正在耗盡真正的回收的潛力。

Ms Gripwall says the aim in Sweden is still to stop people sending waste to recycling in the first place. A national campaign called the “Miljo?na?r-va?nlig” movement has for several years promoted the notion that there is much to be gained through repairing, sharing and reusing.

格里普沃表示，瑞典的目標(biāo)仍然是阻止人們第一時(shí)間就把垃圾送去回收站。瑞典有一項(xiàng)持續(xù)了好幾年的全國(guó)性宣傳運(yùn)動(dòng)Miljo?na?r-va?nlig，該運(yùn)動(dòng)宣揚(yáng)修補(bǔ)、分享和重復(fù)利用可以讓人們獲益多多。

She describes Sweden’s policy of importing waste to recycle from other countries as a temporary situation. “There’s a ban on landfill in EU countries, so instead of paying the fine they send it to us as a service. They should and will build their own plants, to reduce their own waste, as we are working hard to do in Sweden,” Ms Gripwall says.

她表示瑞典從其他國(guó)家進(jìn)口垃圾來(lái)回收只是暫時(shí)的。格里普沃說(shuō)：“歐盟禁止成員國(guó)填埋垃圾，所以這些國(guó)家為了不支付罰款就把垃圾作為一項(xiàng)服務(wù)送到我們國(guó)家來(lái)。他們應(yīng)該也將會(huì)建造自己的回收工廠，減少本國(guó)垃圾，就像我們?cè)谌鸬渑ν菩械囊粯印?rdquo;

“Hopefully there will be less waste and the waste that has to go to incineration should be incinerated in each country. But to use recycling for heating you have to have district heating or cooling systems, so you have to build the infrastructure for that, and that takes time,” she adds.

她補(bǔ)充道：“希望以后的垃圾會(huì)減少，需要焚燒的垃圾能在各國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)焚毀。不過(guò)如果想回收垃圾用來(lái)供熱的話，需要區(qū)域供熱和冷卻系統(tǒng)，所以必須修建相應(yīng)的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施，而修建時(shí)間會(huì)比較長(zhǎng)。”

Swedish municipalities are individually investing in futuristic waste collection techniques, like automated vacuum systems in residential blocks, removing the need for collection transport, and underground container systems that free up road space and get rid of any smells.

瑞典自治區(qū)都在各自發(fā)展未來(lái)主義的垃圾收集技術(shù)，比如居民區(qū)的自動(dòng)真空系統(tǒng)免去了垃圾收運(yùn)，還有地下裝載系統(tǒng)，可以避免占用街道和各種氣味。