路邊的垃圾桶和回收垃圾車其實(shí)挺神奇，大多數(shù)消費(fèi)者還沒有注意到，垃圾就已經(jīng)被清理并送走了。可是，許多美國(guó)城市正陷入超負(fù)荷處理可回收垃圾的困境，可能很快就要調(diào)整垃圾回收方式，有些已經(jīng)開始行動(dòng)。這一重大轉(zhuǎn)變背后的原因是中國(guó)面臨嚴(yán)重污染，以及全球垃圾回收市場(chǎng)如何嚴(yán)重影響其他購(gòu)買進(jìn)口廢紙、塑料廢棄物及可回收品的國(guó)家。

近20年里，中國(guó)吸收了全球海量的垃圾，然后靠廉價(jià)勞動(dòng)力處理。今年2月，由舊金山公共廣播電臺(tái)KALW和美國(guó)建筑師協(xié)會(huì)駐舊金山分會(huì)聯(lián)合成立的獨(dú)立廣播99 Percent Invisible的一期節(jié)目介紹，具體來說，中國(guó)在2001年加入世界貿(mào)易組織（WTO）時(shí)開始接收全世界的廢紙和可回收塑料。新媒體網(wǎng)站Vox的新近報(bào)道稱，截至2016年，中國(guó)每年進(jìn)口可回收制品4000萬(wàn)公噸。

2018年，由于污染嚴(yán)重，中國(guó)叫停進(jìn)口國(guó)外可回收廢物，一些媒體稱之為“亮劍”行動(dòng)。

過去，美國(guó)通過對(duì)外出售垃圾和可回收物品獲得了不少收入，而眼下的問題是，垃圾越積越多，未來如何解決。美國(guó)沒有全國(guó)性的廢品回收政策，意味著各城市并沒有管理垃圾方面的聯(lián)合行動(dòng)計(jì)劃。

因此，美國(guó)的數(shù)百個(gè)城市開始收縮或者徹底廢除廢品回收項(xiàng)目。行業(yè)期刊《WasteDive》推出了一個(gè)指數(shù)，持續(xù)追蹤政策調(diào)整對(duì)美國(guó)50個(gè)州有何影響。取樣遍布大中小城市和各類人群，能充分看出該問題的影響范圍。

在《WasteDive》的追蹤對(duì)象當(dāng)中，印第安納州的廢料處理公司Republic Services便是一例，其客戶超過3萬(wàn)名，去年賬單金額翻了一倍，達(dá)到了法律規(guī)定的最高水平。與此同時(shí)，懷俄明等州的一些城市和縣還在堆積可回收廢品，等待市場(chǎng)環(huán)境好轉(zhuǎn)。

各種應(yīng)對(duì)方式導(dǎo)致政策的影響更為劇烈也更持久。Vox引用美國(guó)科學(xué)促進(jìn)會(huì)旗下期刊《Science Advances》發(fā)布的一項(xiàng)研究稱，由于中國(guó)的進(jìn)口廢品禁令，到2030年，垃圾的累積將是一個(gè)天文數(shù)字。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：馮豐

審校：夏林

Curbside garbage and recycling pickup tends to seem a bit magical, with waste removed and sent away without most consumers ever seeing where it goes. But many U.S. cities are struggling with an overload of recyclables and may soon change their pickup programs, if they haven’t already. The reason behind that big shift has to do with pollution in China and how the global recycling market disproportionately impacts other nations that buy imported paper and plastic refuse and recyclables.

For nearly two decades, China has taken in extraordinary quantities of the world’s trash and relied on cheap labor to process it. More specifically, China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, at which point the country began accepting paper and plastic recycling from around the world, according to a February episode of the podcast 99 Percent Invisible. And according to a new report from Vox, by 2016, China was importing 40 million metric tons of recyclable products every year.

Then in 2018, due to vast pollution issues, China put an end to the practice of importing so much junk, a ban on foreign recyclables the media sometimes called “National Sword.”

The U.S. used to make a fair bit of money from selling off its trash and recyclable goods. But the real issue is what the country will do now, with its recyclable products piling up. There is no national recycling policy in the U.S., which means cities are without a plan to work together to manage domestic waste.

As a result, hundreds of cities nationwide have begun scaling back or altogether scrapping with their recycling programs. Trade publication WasteDive maintains a comprehensive tracker of exactly how this policy impacts each of the 50 U.S. states. Its examples cross cities of all size and demographic and illustrate the breadth of the problem.

One WasteDive example includes the more than 30,000 recycling customers of Republic Services in Indianapolis seeing their bills double in 2018, up to the maximum amount allowable by law. Meanwhile in states such as Wyoming, cities and counties are stockpiling recyclable materials until market conditions improve.

All of this is leading to even more extreme, longer-term effects. Vox points to an alarming study published in the journal Science Advances that says China’s ban on imported recyclables will lead to a pileup of garbage by the year 2030.