加拿大将在明年年底禁止一次性塑料制品_风闻

【来源龙腾网】

正文原创翻译：

Canada will ban single-use plastic items by the end of next year

加拿大将在明年年底禁止一次性塑料制品

(A woman in Toronto carries her groceries in plastic bags.)

（多伦多的一位妇女用塑料袋提着她的食品杂货）

新闻：

Travelers to Canada should not expect to see some everyday plastic items starting next year.

从明年开始，去加拿大旅行的人可别指望每天都能看到塑料制品。

The country plans to ban single-use plastics -- checkout bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery and even foodware made from hard-to-recycle plastics -- nationwide by the end of 2021.

加拿大计划到2021年底在全国范围内禁止使用一次性塑料——结帐袋、吸管、搅拌棒、六罐塑料环、餐具，甚至是用难以回收的塑料制成的食品器皿。

The move is part of a larger effort by the nation to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030.

这一举措是加拿大在2030年前实现塑料垃圾零排放的更大努力的一部分。

“Plastic pollution threatens our natural environment. It fills our rivers or lakes, and most particularly our oceans, choking the wildlife that live there,” Canadian Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Wednesday in a news conference. “Canadians see the impact that pollution has from coast to coast to coast.”

“塑料污染威胁着我们的自然环境。它填满了我们的河流或湖泊，尤其是我们的海洋，窒息了生活在那里的野生动物，”加拿大环境部长乔纳森·威尔金森在周三的新闻发布会上说。“加拿大人看到了污染对各个海岸的影响。”

The plan also includes improvements to keep “plastic in our economy and out of our environment,” he said.

他说，该计划还包括“经济中有塑料，环境里无塑料”的改进措施。

Canada and plastic waste

加拿大与塑胶废物

Single-use plastics make up most of the plastic litter found in Canada’s freshwater environments, according to the government.

根据政府的调查，在加拿大的淡水环境中发现的塑料垃圾中，一次性塑料占了大部分。

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced the country’s plan to ban these kinds of plastics last year, describing it as “a problem we simply can’t afford to ignore,” according to a news release.

加拿大总理贾斯汀·特鲁多去年首次宣布了该国禁止这类塑料的计划，并在一份新闻稿中称，这是“一个我们不能忽视的问题”。

In addition, single-use plastics have three key characteristics that make them a target of the ban, according to Wilkinson.

此外，根据威尔金森的说法，一次性塑料有三个主要特点，使它们成为了禁令的目标。

“They are harmful in the environment, they are difficult or costly to recycle and there are readily available alternatives,” he said.

他说：“它们对环境有害，回收利用难度大，成本高，而且有现成的替代品。”

According to the government, Canadians throw away more than 3 million tons of plastic waste every year -- and only 9% of that plastic is recycled.

根据政府的数据，加拿大人每年扔掉超过300万吨的塑料垃圾，但只有9%的塑料被回收利用。

“The rest goes to landfills or into our environment,” said Wilkinson.

“剩下的都进入了垃圾填埋场或者我们的环境，”威尔金森说。

Although the new regulations won’t come into effect until 2021, the Canadian government is releasing a discussion paper outlining the proposed plastics ban and soliciting public feedback. It will be available until December 9 of this year.

尽管新规定要到2021年才能生效，但加拿大政府发布了一份讨论文件，概述了拟议中的塑料禁令，并征求公众意见。它将在今年12月9日之前公布。

Coronavirus and plastic PPE

疫情和塑料防护用品

As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, personal protective equipment has become a part of people’s day-to-day lives.

在全球应对大流行之际，个人防护装备已成为人们日常生活的一部分。

Wilkinson clarified that the single-use plastic ban would not affect “access to PPE or any other plastics used in the medical environment.”

威尔金森澄清说，一次性使用塑料的禁令不会影响“个人防护装备或医疗环境中使用的任何其他塑料”。

Nevertheless, he said the government is keeping an eye on pollution stemming from the use of protective equipment.

尽管如此，他说政府正在密切关注因使用防护用品而产生的污染。

“We did discuss pollution considerations relating to PPE at the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers meeting earlier this summer,” Wilkinson said. “We committed, with the provinces and territories, to working together and with industry to ensure that we can properly dispose of PPE so that it does not end up in our natural environment,”

威尔金森说：“今年夏天早些时候，在加拿大环境部长会议上，我们确实讨论了与个人防护用品有关的污染问题。我们承诺，与各省和地区，以及工业界一起努力，确保我们能够妥善处理个人防护用品，这样它就不会进入我们的自然环境。”

“We are also investigating solutions to recycle PPE where it is safe to do so, and add options to make some of the PPE biodegradable,” he added.

他补充说：“我们也在研究回收个人防护用品中安全部分的解决方案，并增加选择，使一些个人防护用品可生物降解。”