電子產品帶來大量垃圾 僅兩成被回收

The United Nations (UN) warned that waste from discarded electronics like mobile phones, laptops and refrigerators is piling up worldwide, and it urged far better recycling of the often hazardous rubbish.

聯合國日前警告稱，報廢的手機、筆記本電腦和冰箱等電子產品產生的垃圾正在全球氾濫成災，並敦促要更好地回收這些通常有毒的垃圾。

A full 44.7 million tons of e-waste was generated around the world in 2016, up 8% from two years earlier, and that's the equivalent of 4,500 Eiffel Towers, according to a report from the UN's International Telecommunication Union, the UN University (UNU) and the International Solid Waste Association.

聯合國下屬的國際電信聯盟、聯合國大學以及國際固體廢物協會發布的一份報告稱，2016年，全球共產生4470萬噸電子垃圾，較兩年前增加8%，相當於4500座艾菲爾鐵塔。

By 2021, the world will likely be cluttered with a full 52.2 million tonnes of such waste, which today consists mainly of fridges, washing machines and other domestic appliances, but also increasingly mobile phones and computers.

到2021年，全世界可能會出現5220萬噸這樣的垃圾，這些垃圾主要來源於冰箱，洗衣機和其它家用電器，但現在手機和電腦的廢料也越來越多。

At the same time, this waste, which can pose serious risks to human health and the environment, is rarely recycled or properly discarded, with most of it ending up at dumpsites or in incinerators, according to the report.

該報告指出，另外，這種會對人類的健康和環境造成嚴重的危害得垃圾，很少被回收或妥善棄置，其中大部分會在垃圾場或焚化爐中處理。

Only 20% of all e-waste, or 8.9 million tons, generated last year was documented as properly recycled.

其中只有20%，也就是890萬噸的電子垃圾被登記爲“妥善回收”。

"E-waste management is an urgent issue in today's digitally dependent world, where use of electronic devices is ever increasing," ITU chief Houlin Zhao said in a statement.

國際電聯祕書長趙厚麟在一則聲明中表示：“隨着電子設備使用日益增多，電子廢料管理已經成爲當今依賴數字的世界的緊迫問題。”

Perhaps the most promising approach to reducing e-waste is a system where consumers no longer purchase devices, but instead only the services they provide, Ruediger Kuehr of UNU's Sustainable Cycles Programme told AFP.

聯合國大學可持續循環項目人員魯迪格·庫爾向法新社透露，減少電子垃圾的最可行的方法是構建一個系統，在這個系統中消費者不再購買設備，而只享受其帶來的服務。