每日英語跟讀 Ep.K457: 5.3 billion cellphones to become waste in 2022
More than 5 billion of the estimated 16 billion mobile phones possessed worldwide will likely be discarded or stashed away in 2022, experts said Thursday last week, calling for more recycling of the often hazardous materials they contain.
專家上週四表示，二〇二二年全球人口所擁有的計160億支手機中，有超過50億支可能會被丟棄或束之高閣，呼籲加強回收這些手機所含的危險物質。
Stacked flat on top of each other, that many disused phones would rise 50,000 kilometers, more than 100 times higher than the International Space Station, the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) research consortium found.
廢電子及電器設備處理指令（WEEE）研究聯盟發現，將這麼多的廢棄手機堆疊起來，會有五萬公里高，比國際太空站離地面的距離還高一百多倍。
Despite containing valuable gold, copper, silver, palladium and other recyclable components, almost all these unwanted devices will be hoarded, dumped or incinerated, causing significant health and environmental harm.
儘管這些不要的設備含有有價值的金、銅、銀、鈀及其他可回收成分，但幾乎全都會被囤積、丟棄或焚化，而對健康和環境造成重大危害。
“Smartphones are one of the electronic products of highest concern for us,” said Pascal Leroy, director-general of the WEEE Forum, a not-for-profit association representing 46 producer responsibility organizations.
「智慧手機是最令我們擔心的電子產品之一」，代表四十六個生產者責任組織的非營利協會 WEEE 論壇總幹事巴斯卡‧李若伊說。
“If we don’t recycle the rare materials they contain, we’ll have to mine them in countries like China or Congo,” Leroy told AFP.
「如果不回收這些手機裡的稀有材料，我們將不得不到中國或剛果等國家去開採」，李若伊對法新社表示。
Defunct cellphones are just the tip of the 44.48 million tonne iceberg of global electronic waste generated annually that is not recycled, according to the 2020 global e-waste monitor.
根據全球電子廢棄物監測機構二〇二〇年的數據，報廢的手機只是全球每年產生的4,448萬噸未回收電子廢棄物的冰山一角。
Many of the 5 billion phones withdrawn from circulation will be hoarded rather than dumped in the trash, according to a survey in six European countries from June to September 2022.
根據二〇二二年六月至九月在六個歐洲國家進行的一項調查，這五十億支不再使用的手機，其中有很多會被囤積起來，而不是丟進垃圾桶。
This happens when households and businesses forget cellphones in drawers, closets, cupboards or garages rather than bringing them in for repair or recycling.
家庭和企業將手機遺忘在抽屜、衣櫥、櫥櫃或車庫，而不是將它們拿去修理或回收，就是這種囤積的情況。
Up to five kilos of e-devices per person are currently hoarded in the average European family, the report found.
該報告發現，目前歐洲一般家庭中每人囤積的電子設備高達五公斤重。
According to the new findings, 46 percent of the 8,775 households surveyed considered potential future use as the main reason for hoarding small electrical and electronic equipment.
根據這項新發現，在接受調查的8,775戶家庭中，46%的家庭之所以囤積小型電器及電子設備，主要是因為覺得未來可能會用到它。
Another 15 percent stockpile their gadgets with the intention of selling them or giving them away, while 13 percent keep them due to “sentimental value”.
另有15%的人囤積他們的小裝置是為了要出售或是送人，而13%的人是因為「情感價值」而保留它。