回收真的值得吗？
Is Recycling Worth the Effort?
回收真的值得吗？
The value of recycling depends on the material in question and whether all hidden costs and benefits go into the analysis. David Biello reports
回收的价值取决于材料的种类以及回收过程中隐藏的成本及潜在价值。
撰文/播音 戴维·别洛（David Biello）
翻译 王宁
At Brooklyn's recycling depot, discarded metal and plastic gets bulldozed into a large mound. The stuff is then scooped onto the first of a series of rising conveyor belts, from which the trash is sorted through means both mechanical and manual.
在布鲁克林回收站，废弃的金属和塑料被推积为一座巨大的“山丘”，接着垃圾会被手工或机械分类，然后分别铲到一系列向上的传送带上。
All that effort produces a variety of salable products, from metals to paper fibers. But is it worth it?
分拣后的垃圾会华丽转身，从金属到纸纤维，都会成为商品。但这样真的值得吗？
In the case of an aluminum can the answer is an unqualified yes. Such a can can be recycled endlessly with no loss of quality. And recycling a can uses less than five percent of the energy that it takes to refine bauxite ore into fresh aluminum.
就铝合金容器而言，答案是一个差强人意的 “yes”，像这样的容器可以无止境的完璧回收，但是回收一个容器仅仅比把单质铝从铝土矿中提炼出来少百分之五的耗能。
Recycling is worth it when it comes to all metals, though we're better at recycling aluminum than say neodymium. In principle it could work for plastic, too. But because plastic is made from petrochemicals, low oil prices can make it cheaper to just dump old plastic and manufacture new. And plastics degrade as they're recycled, as does paper.
对所有金属来说，回收都是值得的，但相比于，比方说钕，我们肯定更擅长回收铝。按理说塑料也应该是这样，但是塑料源于石油化工产品，低廉的油价使得直接丢弃塑料再生产新的更加划算，而且塑料在回收过程中会老化，纸张也是如此。
That said, a simple cost-benefit analysis does not correctly measure the environmental costs of dumping plastics or cutting down more trees for paper products. The EPA suggests that recycling in the U.S. reduces the same amount of greenhouse gas pollution as taking more than 38 million cars off the road.
但另一方面，这个简单的利润分析没能正确地将废弃塑料及大量砍伐树木的环境成本纳入其中。美国环境保护署（Environmental Protection Agency, EPA）称，美国的回收项目每年可以减少相当于3800万辆车所产生的温室气体。
The sound of recycling may prove music to the ears of future generations.
所以，回收会向我们的子孙带去福音。
（题图来源：carleton.ca）
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京ICP备11000850号
京公网安备11010502039775号 信息网络传播视听节目许可证0111611号
国家科技基础条件平台