加拿大計劃2021年禁止一次性塑料用品

Canada plans to ban single-use plastics by 2021

加拿大計劃2021年禁止一次性塑料用品

From plastic bags to straws, single-use plastic products have worn out their welcome in Canada. Today, the Canadian government announced that it plans to “ban harmful single-use plastics as early as 2021” in an effort to reduce the 3 million tons of plastic waste tossed out by the country every year.

從塑料袋到塑料吸管，加拿大人對一次性塑料用品的熱情已漸漸消磨殆盡。今天，加拿大政府宣佈，計劃“最早於2021年禁止使用一次性塑料用品”，以減少塑料垃圾（該國每年會扔掉300萬噸塑料垃圾）。

According to the Canadian government, 15 billion plastic bags are used in Canada every year, along with 57 million plastic straws every day. Not only that, but only 10 percent of plastic waste in the country actually gets recycled. And since China stopped importing plastic recycling last year, Canada’s plastic problems (and recycling problems) have taken on a new urgency.

加拿大政府表示，加拿大每年使用的塑料袋達150億個，每天使用的塑料吸管達5700萬根。除此之外，只有10%的廢塑料會被回收利用。去年，中國開始停止進口廢塑料，加拿大的塑料問題（及循環問題）面臨新的難題。

Canada isn’t alone in confronting the plastic juggernaut. Plastics are now just about everywhere on Earth, from the deepest parts of the ocean to the frozen wilderness of Antarctica. Fish, birds, and other creatures can get caught in plastic trash or eat plastic particles instead of food, often with tragic results. Once plastic makes it to the ocean, it is incredibly difficult to clean up. One of the best ways to prevent plastic from getting into the ocean is to stop using so much of it in the first place.

很多國家和加拿大一樣，正在面臨塑料問題。現而今，地球上到處都是塑料，從海洋的最深處到南極洲的冰凍荒原。魚、鳥和其它生物可能會受困於塑料垃圾或不小心吞下塑料顆粒而非食物，通常都會帶來不幸的結果。塑料一旦流入海洋，清理工作將變得尤爲困難。不再過度使用塑料製品是防止塑料垃圾流入海洋的最佳方法之一。

“WE OWE IT TO OUR KIDS TO KEEP THE ENVIRONMENT CLEAN AND SAFE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.”

“爲了我們的孩子和子孫後代，我們應保持乾淨、安全的環境。”

The plastic ban announcement brings Canada in line with a global movement to ban single-use plastic products, including bags and straws. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited the European Union’s recent decision to ban single-use plastics as the inspiration for Canada’s ban.

塑料禁令的宣佈是加拿大向禁止一次性塑料用品的全球運動（包括塑料袋和塑料吸管）邁出的重要一步。加拿大總理賈斯汀·特魯多（Justin Trudeau）將歐盟禁止一次性塑料的最新決定作爲加拿大禁令的靈感。

Exactly which plastics will be banned and how the ban will be enforced hasn’t yet been decided. The government recently commissioned a scientific report on plastic pollution, and it will make formal decisions about individual items once the report is released. But some products are likely to make that final list. In the news release announcing the proposed policy, “shopping bags, straws, cutlery, plates, and stir sticks” were all mentioned as examples of what could be on the chopping block.

目前尚未決定具體禁止哪些塑料用品以及如何執行該禁令。近日，加拿大政府正在編寫一份關於塑料污染的科學報告。報告一經發布，政府將對特定用品的禁令做出正式決定。在宣佈上述政策的新聞發佈會中，“購物袋、吸管、塑料餐具和餐盤、以及塑料攪拌棒”都應被禁止使用。