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  • The world is under threat. Not from aliens or terrorists or nuclear bombs, but from something

  • much less obvious. For millions of years nature was in charge

  • of the earth and all the waste from animals and humans would rot down and turn into soil.

  • Soil helped to make the things grow for the animals and humans to eat so for millions

  • of years, it was the perfect recycling system. But then, just a few hundred years ago, humans

  • started to make more and more things so there was just too much for nature to cope with

  • and rubbish started to be a problem. This was bad enough but around 1860 plastic was

  • invented and now almost everything we buy: cars, computers, toys and food, is either

  • made from, or wrapped in, plastic of some kind. And plastic takes hundreds of years

  • to decompose. All this junk litters our planet and lots

  • of it ends up in the sea. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean there are two islands of

  • rubbish that together are over five times the size of the whole of England. No-one has

  • worked out how to clean them up so they're just getting bigger.

  • On land, rubbish that isn't recycled goes into enormous pits called 'landfill'. These

  • pits are filled to the top with rubbish and then covered over. But as the rubbish rots

  • it produces lots of a gas called methane. Methane is what is known as a 'greenhouse'

  • gas. Too much greenhouse gas changes the world's climate and makes it hotter. Also, nasty poisonous

  • liquid leaks out and this has to be treated like sewage to make it safe. Yuk!!

  • In Devon alone, the amount of rubbish going to landfill weighs around the same as seven

  • thousand, six hundred and eighty two Jumbo jets! What doesn't find its way to landfill

  • is left around on the streets, in the countryside and on beaches where it not only looks horrible

  • but it's a real danger for wildlife. One plastic carrier bag can split into lots of pieces

  • and if animals, birds or fish swallow these, it may choke them.

  • Small creatures can get stuck in discarded bottles and cans and drown or starve. When

  • it's hot, glass bottles can start fires, destroying huge areas of countryside.

  • Much of what ends up in landfill could be recycled and people are now being encouraged

  • to recycle more of their household waste. But it isn't just rubbish from our homes that

  • finds its way to landfill, there's a huge amount that comes from shops, offices, factories

  • and other businesses. Up until now businesses have had to sort all

  • their rubbish for recycling but many didn't have the time, which is why much of it ended

  • up in landfill. However, help is now at hand! In Exeter, there is a place called Envirohub,

  • which is the base for Devon Contract Waste. This company has started a 'Zero to Landfill'

  • campaign because they would like to see everything recycled so landfill wouldn't be needed anymore.

  • To help with this, they have spent over four million pounds on a fantastic new waste sorting

  • machine which means businesses won't have to sort their rubbish anymore.

  • This machine is huge: it's over ten metres high, covers the same area as one football

  • pitches and it can sort up to 300 tonnes of rubbish per day -- that's the same weight

  • as thirty seven and a half full size elephants. So how does it work? Let's go and see it in

  • action! Rubbish arrives at Envirohub from all around

  • the county in dustcarts, front-loaders and wheelie bins, where it is all emptied out

  • on the floor. Then it is lifted by this mechanical grabber and dumped into the hopper where it

  • is shredded down into smaller pieces.

  • From the shredder, the rubbish goes up this belt to a big drum called a trommel screen.

  • This tumbles the rubbish to remove all the soil and dust which gets turned into a fuel

  • called Refuse-Derived Fuel product -- or RDF for short. Nothing gets wasted here!Everything

  • else continues on to here. This is called a ballistic separator and it walks everything

  • upwards, but only the flat material makes it to the top. The three dimensional items

  • can't manage the climb and fall back onto another line below.

  • The flat stuff now falls onto a belt which goes under the first optical sorter. This

  • is a line of small cameras that can recognise the different types of rubbish. This one is

  • set to 'see' soft plastic film and when it sees some approaching, it triggers a jet of

  • air which hits the item as it crosses the end of the belt, blowing it on to another

  • belt behind. It's very fast but watch closely and you'll see the plastic flying off. That's

  • amazing! This rubbish left on the belt drops down to

  • another below. It then passes the second optical sorter, which is set to 'see' all paper and

  • card products. It's very important that nothing else gets through so just to make doubly sure

  • there are two people inspecting it. Remember the 3D stuff that didn't make it

  • to the top of the line earlier? Let's go and see what happened to it. Here it is, going

  • past a very powerful magnet which attracts all ferrous metal -- that's metals like iron

  • and steel which are magnetic. Everything else won't be attracted by the magnet so goes on

  • to this eddy current machine [maybe explain how this works?] which removes all non-ferrous

  • metals such as aluminium -- things like drink cans. All the metals are collected in the

  • skips below. The non-metallic material left on the belt

  • then goes twice past another optical sorter. The first time it puts all plastic on one

  • side and the second time it puts all paper and card on the other. Anything left over

  • will also go into the fuel product or RDF we mentioned before.

  • Under the machine are all these bays where the different materials end up. The contents

  • are eventually baled and wrapped like this ready to be transported.

  • What an amazing machine! So where does it all go? The metal will be

  • sent to be melted down so it can be made into other metal products. Paper will be recycled

  • into tissue such as toilet roll and hand towels. Plastics are recycled into new products; some

  • obvious ones such as carrier bags and bin liners, but also fleeces, umbrellas, children's

  • toys and even car bumpers. Card is generally shipped to China for recycling. This goes

  • on ships that have delivered products from China into the UK, and need to return anyway,

  • so it is reasonably environmentally friendly. People like those at Envirohub are working

  • really hard to try and reduce the enormous problem of how to cope with all the rubbish

  • we make, but everyone needs to do their bit. If they don't, then the risk of long-term

  • climate change which would make parts of the planet impossible to live in, is very high.

  • So what can you do? Never drop litter -- remember it doesn't just

  • look horrible, it's a danger to wild and domestic animals. If there's no litter bin, then take

  • it home. At home, help your parents with recycling

  • your rubbish. If you have a drink from a can, put it straight in the recycling bin and save

  • your mum having to do it. Do the same with paper and card. (Better to let your parents

  • deal with glass bottles though). Learn about which plastics are recyclable

  • - they should have this symbol on them if they are. Make sure they go in the plastics

  • recycling. Be careful not to put things in that don't have the symbol because that will

  • spoil a whole load and may prevent it from being recycled. You can also recycle clothes,

  • mobile phones, and most old toys. Every little bit that goes in the recycling bin means less

  • in landfill. Be careful with old batteries -- when they

  • start to decompose, poisonous chemicals leak out. Take them to your local waste recycling

  • site and put them in the special bin provided. These things really do make a difference -- if

  • everyone did them we'd be well on our way to solving the problem. But if you want to

  • do something on a bigger scale, why not see if your class or scout or guide group could

  • organise a litter pick? Especially if you live near a beach or public area this is a

  • great thing to do. When places are clear of litter, it discourages other people from dropping

  • it. Do make sure there are adults in charge though.

  • Previous generations have failed to heed the scientist's warnings but you and your friends,

  • along with people like those at Envirohub, can help to clean up the mess they have left.

  • We are all very lucky to live somewhere as beautiful as Devon. Let's do our best to keep

  • it that way -- and at the same we will be helping the whole planet!

The world is under threat. Not from aliens or terrorists or nuclear bombs, but from something

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廃棄物のリサイクルが地球にどのように役立つか - ゼロから埋め立てまで (How waste recycling helps our planet - Zero to Landfill)

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    阿多賓 に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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