東京奧運(yùn)擬用電子垃圾做獎(jiǎng)牌

Japan is exploring the feasibility of forging the Olympic 2020 medals using precious metals salvaged from electronic waste.
日本正在探索使用電子垃圾中回收利用的貴金屬來(lái)制造2020年?yáng)|京奧運(yùn)會(huì)的獎(jiǎng)牌。

Members of Japan's Olympic organising committee tabled the idea to government officials and companies earlier this year, local media reports said.
當(dāng)?shù)孛襟w報(bào)道，日本奧林匹克組織委員會(huì)的成員們?cè)诮衲暝缧r(shí)候?qū)⒋讼敕ㄕ教峤唤o了政府官員和相關(guān)公司。

Olympic host cities have traditionally obtained the metal from mining firms.
奧林匹克主辦城市向來(lái)是從礦產(chǎn)公司購(gòu)入金屬。

But Japan, which lacks its own mineral resources, is keen to take the theme of a sustainable future a step further.
但是日本作為一個(gè)礦產(chǎn)資源缺乏的國(guó)家，致力于更深入地貫徹可持續(xù)未來(lái)的主題。

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has developed strict criteria for the world's greatest sporting event, and this extends to how the medals should be produced.
國(guó)際奧委會(huì)（IOC）為奧運(yùn)會(huì)制定了嚴(yán)苛的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，其中涵蓋了如何制作獎(jiǎng)牌。

The Rio Olympics, for example, used gold that was extracted without the use of mercury and a third of the silver and bronze used came from recycled sources.
例如，里約奧運(yùn)會(huì)的金牌就是在無(wú)水銀的情況下提煉而得，三分之一的銀和銅來(lái)自可回收材料。

How does e-waste recycling work?
如何回收電子垃圾？

Discarded consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablets contain small amounts of precious and rare earth metals, including platinum, palladium, gold, silver, lithium, cobalt and nickel.
在廢棄的消費(fèi)性電子產(chǎn)品中，如智能手機(jī)和平板電腦都含有少量的貴金屬和稀有金屬，其中包括鉑金、鈀、金、銀、鋰、鈷和鎳。

Scrap cars and home appliances such as fridges and air conditioners also contain these rarer metals, along with base metals, including iron, copper, lead and zinc.
廢棄汽車(chē)和家用電器如冰箱和空調(diào)也含有此類(lèi)稀有金屬，此外還有基本金屬如鐵、銅、鉛和鋅。

Recycling or refining companies either collect or purchase tons of this e-waste and industrial scraps. They then use chemical processes to separate the various metals.
回收公司、精煉公司收集或購(gòu)買(mǎi)上噸的電子垃圾和工業(yè)廢料。然后利用化學(xué)反應(yīng)分離不同的金屬。

Much of this work takes place in developing countries such as China, India and Indonesia.
這種工作大多在發(fā)展中國(guó)家如中國(guó)、印度和印度尼西亞完成。

Does Japan have enough for 2020?
日本有足夠的電子垃圾來(lái)生產(chǎn)2020年的所有獎(jiǎng)牌么？

Japan has one of the highest recycling rates in Asia, according to OECD data. However, this mainly applies to plastic, paper and glass.
經(jīng)濟(jì)合作與發(fā)展組織（OECD）的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，亞洲擁有最高回收率之一的國(guó)家就是日本。然而，他們回收的主要是塑料、紙張和玻璃。

About 650,000 tonnes of small electronics and home appliances are discarded in Japan every year, the Nikkei newspaper said. However, it is estimated that less than 100,000 tonnes is collected for recycling.
日經(jīng)新聞稱(chēng)每年日本有約65萬(wàn)噸的小型電子設(shè)備和家用電器被丟棄。然而，其中回收再利用的預(yù)計(jì)不到10萬(wàn)噸。

So for the 2020 Games, Japan will probably have to ask individual countries or companies to contribute towards the recycled metal collection effort.
所以為了2020年的奧運(yùn)會(huì)，日本可能需要請(qǐng)求其他國(guó)家或公司共同幫助參與回收金屬。

How much metal is needed?
需要多少金屬？

The amount of metal needed will depend on the size and number of medals, since each year, they seem to get bigger and heavier.
所需的金屬數(shù)量取決于獎(jiǎng)牌的大小和數(shù)量。每一年獎(jiǎng)牌都在變得越來(lái)越大，越來(lái)越重。

Five new sports have also been added to the Tokyo 2020 competition, including baseball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing.
2020年奧運(yùn)會(huì)新加了五項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)，分別是棒球、空手道、滑板、運(yùn)動(dòng)攀巖和沖浪。

The 2016 Rio Olympics had the largest medals of any games, weighing in at 500g each and 1cm thick in the middle.
2016里約奧運(yùn)會(huì)的獎(jiǎng)牌大小是有史以來(lái)最大的，重500克，中間厚1厘米。

The Brazilian Mint produced 5,130 medals in total, up from the 4,700 made by London's Royal Mint for the 2012 Games.
巴西鑄幣局總共制造了5130枚獎(jiǎng)牌，超過(guò)了倫敦皇家鑄幣局為2012年奧運(yùn)會(huì)制造的4700枚獎(jiǎng)牌。

How much will it cost?
花費(fèi)多少？

It may end up being cheaper using recycled metals than buying it on the spot market.
使用回收的獎(jiǎng)牌會(huì)比在現(xiàn)貨市場(chǎng)上買(mǎi)便宜。

A little-known fact is that the gold medals are mostly made out of sterling silver and the bronze metals are mostly made out of copper.
一個(gè)鮮有人知的事實(shí)是金牌大多是由標(biāo)準(zhǔn)純銀制成，銅牌則大多由青銅制成。

Isn't that rather sneaky?
這是不是有點(diǎn)“卑鄙”？

The IOC minimum requirement for a gold medal is 6g of the pure yellow metal.
國(guó)際奧委會(huì)對(duì)金牌的要求是至少要有6克的金。

If the medals were made of pure gold, the overall cost would run into tens of millions of dollars.
如果獎(jiǎng)牌是純金的，那么總花費(fèi)將達(dá)到幾千萬(wàn)美元。

Gold is currently about 70 times more expensive than silver. But some market experts think that may change by 2020.
現(xiàn)在金的價(jià)格比銀貴70倍。但是一些市場(chǎng)專(zhuān)家認(rèn)為到2020年形勢(shì)會(huì)有所變化。

Global silver reserves continue to shrink as demand is exceeding supply and we mine only 11oz of silver for each ounce of gold, said Gregor Gregersen, the founder of Silver Bullion in Singapore.
全球銀儲(chǔ)存量在逐漸減少，供不應(yīng)求。新加坡Silver Bullion的創(chuàng)立者格雷格爾·格雷格森說(shuō)，我們每挖出一盎司的金，只能挖出十一盎司的銀。

Vocabulary

sterling silver: 標(biāo)準(zhǔn)純銀，法定純度銀制成品
spot market: 現(xiàn)貨市場(chǎng)