The history of trash heaps

垃圾堆的歷史

Rubbish is becoming a political problem in Russia

垃圾正在成為俄羅斯的一個(gè)政治問題

Will more recycling solve it?

更多的回收會(huì)解決這個(gè)問題嗎?

Jun 29th 2019 | MOSCOW

HEAPS OF PLASTIC bottles and containers fill bins reaching towards the ceiling in a warehouse on Moscow’s southern outskirts. At weekends hundreds of people line up to offload carefully sorted rubbish at Sobirator, a non-profit centre, one of a handful of recycling sites in the Russian capital. “For more than 20 years, trash didn’t worry anyone,” says Valeria Korosteleva, Sobirator’s head. “We have a lot of territory, so everything went straight to the dump.”

在莫斯科南郊的一個(gè)倉(cāng)庫(kù)里，成堆的塑料瓶和集裝箱裝滿了箱子，箱子一直堆積到天花板。周末，成百上千的人在Sobirator(一家非營(yíng)利性的垃圾回收中心)排起長(zhǎng)隊(duì)，把精心分類的垃圾卸下來(lái)。Sobirator是俄羅斯首都為數(shù)不多的幾個(gè)垃圾回收站點(diǎn)之一。Sobirator負(fù)責(zé)人瓦萊里婭?科奧斯特洛娃(Valeria Korosteleva)表示:“20多年來(lái)，人們對(duì)垃圾并不擔(dān)心，”“我們有廣大的領(lǐng)土，所以所有東西都直接被扔進(jìn)了垃圾堆?！?/p>

That may be about to change. Last week Moscow city authorities announced a plan to introduce recycling bins in courtyards across the city by the end of the year. For Russia this would amount to a minor revolution: while EU member states recover an average of 60% of their waste, Russia recycles just 4%, a World Bank study found in 2012. That means that landfill has taken up the slack. Such dumps cover some 4m hectares in Russia, an area roughly the size of Switzerland.

這種情況可能即將改變。上周，莫斯科市政府宣布了一項(xiàng)計(jì)劃，計(jì)劃在今年年底前在全市的庭院里引入垃圾桶。世界銀行2012年的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，對(duì)俄羅斯來(lái)說(shuō)，這將是一場(chǎng)小規(guī)模的革命:歐盟成員國(guó)平均回收60%的垃圾，而俄羅斯僅回收4%。這意味著垃圾堆已經(jīng)占據(jù)了不少領(lǐng)土。在俄羅斯，這樣的垃圾場(chǎng)占地約400萬(wàn)公頃，相當(dāng)于瑞士的面積。

詞匯

Slack/松弛部分；富余部分；煤屑；懈怠

Hectare/公頃

Yet Moscow’s leaders have hardly undergone a green awakening. Instead, rubbish has become a political hot potato. Landfill sites around the capital are full; Moscow plans to ship its rubbish to the provinces. Residents of those regions have, unsurprisingly, balked at being treated as Moscow’s bin. “It’s about dignity,” says Elena Kalinina, an activist.

然而，莫斯科的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人幾乎沒有經(jīng)歷過(guò)環(huán)保意識(shí)覺醒。相反，垃圾已經(jīng)成為政治上的燙手山芋。首都周邊的垃圾填埋場(chǎng)基本已經(jīng)堆滿;莫斯科計(jì)劃將垃圾運(yùn)往各省。不出所料，這些地區(qū)的居民不愿被用作莫斯科的垃圾箱?！斑@關(guān)乎尊嚴(yán)，”活動(dòng)家Elena Kalinina說(shuō)。

詞匯

Dignity/尊嚴(yán)；高貴

The fiercest resistance has come from Ms Kalinina’s home region of Arkhangelsk. Protests have been bubbling there since late last year, drawing thousands. Activists have built a tent camp at the planned landfill site in Shiyes. “The Russian North is Not a Dump,” they chant. Local authorities have detained dozens of them. Activists now demand not only an end to landfill construction but also the resignation of the local governor. On June 25th Russia’s Supreme Court blocked activists’ attempt to force a referendum on the issue.

最激烈的抵抗來(lái)自Kalinina的家鄉(xiāng)Arkhangelsk。自去年年底以來(lái)，那里的抗議活動(dòng)不斷升溫，吸引了數(shù)千人?；顒?dòng)人士在計(jì)劃中的西耶斯垃圾填埋場(chǎng)搭起了帳篷?！岸砹_斯北部不是垃圾場(chǎng)，”他們高呼。當(dāng)?shù)卣呀?jīng)拘留了數(shù)十人?；顒?dòng)人士現(xiàn)在不僅要求停止垃圾填埋場(chǎng)的建設(shè)，而且要求地方長(zhǎng)官辭職。6月25日，俄羅斯最高法院阻止了活動(dòng)人士就該問題舉行公投的企圖。

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If there is a silver lining to the garbage, this is it. Just as ecology became an outlet for civic activism in the late Soviet era, so too have today’s rubbish problems. Moscow’s junk, in short, may be civil society’s treasure.

如果說(shuō)垃圾還有一線希望的話，那就是它了。正如社會(huì)生態(tài)學(xué)在蘇聯(lián)時(shí)代晚期成為公民行動(dòng)主義的出口一樣，今天的垃圾問題也是如此?？傊箍频睦赡苁枪裆鐣?huì)的財(cái)富。

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