奇速英语

英国官员呼吁社会停止浪费资源

The recent report by the Environmental Audit Committee (环境审计委员会) called for lower VAT(Value Added Tax) on recycled products and longer warranty periods on consumer goods. It concluded that a “circular economy” approach is needed to save resources as the world’s population rises.

In England, 8.5 million tons of local authority-collected waste goes to landfill, according to Government figures. If Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are included, the amount of waste in the UK being buried is in the region of 11 million tons.

The report called for a move away from “the throwaway society”. But Mike Barry of Marks and Spencer(玛莎百货) told the Committee, “The number one thing that the Government can do to help us is to simplify the collection of waste in the consumer’s home.”

Wales and Scotland have made improvements in standardizing recycling collections. In Wales, more than 90% of homes now have access to organic recycling facilities. However, in England, only around a quarter of local councils provide a separate food waste collection.

According to a recent report by the think tank the Green Alliance(绿色联盟), electronic goods worth around a billion pounds are put in landfill each year, but only around 2% are recycled. “If we got that product back to someone who could repair it, about a quarter of products are readily repairable or reusable and that’s a lot of value: we reckon at least £250 million per year,” said Dustin Benton of the Green Alliance.

London-based company Envirowaste prepares thrown-away goods for reuse. “People just ring us up and tell us to get rid of everything,” said James Rubin, who welcomed the report. “We all get rid of waste, and it’s a matter of putting it into a bin and forgetting about it. People should be taking more responsibility.”

But Aleyn Smith-Gillespie of the Carbon Trust said, “Many companies do recognize the potential in a shift towards a more sustainable circular economy, but currently only a handful of pioneers are taking the important first steps.”