Thailand says it will ban plastic waste imports by 2021, meaning the UK must find somewhere else for the thousands of tonnes of plastic it currently sends to the country for recycling each month.
泰国表示，将从2021年开始禁止塑料垃圾的进口，这意味着，英国必须另找地方回收每月向泰国出口的数千吨塑料垃圾。
Large exporters like the UK, Japan and the United States increased their reliance on Thailand as a plastic waste importer after Chinastopped almost all its plastic scrap imports in January.
随着中国今年1月份宣布停止几乎所有的塑料废料进口后，英国、日本和美国等塑料垃圾出口大国对泰国的依赖度上升。
Now Thailand is joining neighbours such as Vietnam and Malaysia in cracking down on import and processing licenses this year, and closing its doors to plastic scrap.
现在，泰国正与越南和马来西亚等邻国一道，对进口和加工许可证实施打击，对塑料垃圾关闭了大门。
The ban was initially announced in June. Banjong Sukreeta, deputy director of Thailand’s department of industrial works, said on Sunday it would be introduced within two years, according to the financial Times.
这项禁令最初是在6月份宣布的。据《金融时报》报道，泰国工业部副部长班宗.苏克列塔星期二表示，最终的协议将在两年内颁布。
Last December environment secretary Michael Gove said that the UK needs to “stop offshoring our dirt”. Greenpeace statistics showed that progress was being made, with the total amount of plastic waste exported by the UK dropping from 198,557 tonnes in the first four months of 2017 to 165,104 tonnes in the same period this year.
2017年12月，英国环境大臣迈克尔·戈夫曾表示，英国必须“停止将我们的垃圾运到海外”。绿色和平组织的统计数据显示，这方面的工作目前正在取得进展。英国出口的塑料垃圾总量从2017年前4个月的198557吨下降至今年同期的165104吨。
However, Mr Gove admitted that in the short-term the UK would have to continue sending scrap abroad, with Thailand a key destination. According to Greenpeace the amount of plastic waste the UK sends to the country rose from 123 tonnes in January to April 2017, to 6,810 tonnes in the same period this year.
不过，戈夫认为，短期内英国将不得不继续向海外输送废品，而泰国是主要目的地。据绿色和平组织数据，英国向泰国运送的塑料垃圾从2017年1月至4月的123吨增加到了今年同期的6810吨。
Thailand’s move came after public outcry in the country over recycling plants and importers flouting regulations and bringing contaminated plastic into the country for processing.
在泰国采取这一行动之前，泰国国内民众对废品回收厂和进口商违反规定将有污染的塑料进口到国内进行加工的做法提出了强烈抗议。
Greenpeace’s oceans campaigner Elena Polisano told The Telegraph: "More and more countries are having enough of being used as dumping grounds for our plastic waste. This is becoming a global game of pass the parcel where the last country gets all the plastic packaging and a nasty surprise.
绿色和平组织的海洋活动人士埃莱娜·波利萨诺对《每日电讯报》记者说：“越来越多的国家受够了，不想再被当做我们的塑料垃圾倾倒场。这正在成为一场全球性的击鼓传花游戏，所有的塑料垃圾和推不掉的麻烦都给了最后一个国家。”
“Britain should stop shipping off its plastic scrap thousands of miles away and instead tackle the problem at home by cutting the amount of throwaway plastic being produced.”
“英国应该停止将塑料废料运到数千英里以外的地方，应该在国内通过减少塑料废料的产量来解决这个问题。”
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