1 . In rich countries like America, the absence of professional waste-pickers presents a problem. The general public is not very good at sorting rubbish. Households and businesses serviced by municipal waste-management providers may actually have got worse at sorting in the past 20 years, says Peter Keller of Republic Services, America's second-biggest waste management firm, which runs Newby Island in San Jose.
Citizens of rich countries, where almost 100% of municipal waste gets collected, take such services for granted - unless the collectors go on strike (罢工),as happened in the Belgian city of Ghent in early August, leaving streets in a stink (恶臭) for days. In some industrialized nations, increasingly, residents are charged based on volume (known as "pay-as-you-throw") To encourage sorting, such schemes often exempt recyclables.
The volume of recyclables has reached 1,400 tons a day, a lot by American standards, says Mr. Keller. That should come as no surprise. After all, inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay area pride themselves on their recycling ability. San Francisco boasts a recycling rate of 80% one of the highest of any rich-world city. San Franciscans may therefore be shocked to learn that a lot of them, as Mr. Keller puts it, “aren't very good at it"
Two possible reasons account for Mr. Keller's remarks. The first is that many people do not know what is recyclable. Beer bottles and soft-drink cans are, he says. Egg cartons and magazines are not, for there is not market for the materials of which they are made. Some things are recyclable on their own, but not when combined, such as "paper" cups lined with plastic film. It is hard to blame consumers for feeling increasingly puzzled, he admits
The other problem is that residents only have to separate recyclables from non-recyclables Cans, bottles and papers are all thrown into one bin. This mix can, to some degree, be sorted at plants like Newby, enabled by clever technology which uses optical sensor;(光电感应器) and magnets to separate materials automatically. Anyway, these was no match for humans when it came to sorting.
As the volume of recyclables increased in America and Europe, the quality of recycled output decreased because everything was mixed in together. This did not trouble materials. recovery facilities (MRF) operators so long as they would offload their increasingly impure stock abroad. Then China announced it would not accept any plastics or carboard, and American waste-management companies have been struggling to find what to do with their poor-quality waste.
1. According to the passage, the biggest problem in rich countries caused by lack of professional waste-pickers is that ________.| A．waste collectors often go on strike regardless of people's needs |
| B．no one teaches people how to tell apart recyclable and non-recyclables |
| C．waste sorting by machine is far from perfect so far |
| D．citizens fail to deal with waste sorting properly |
| A．make no charge for | B．set aside |
| C．fully expect | D．set the standard for |
| A．More advanced waste sorting machines will be launched (推出) as soon as possible. |
| B．San Franciscans are not informed that there is no need to recycle egg cartons. |
| C．Recycling ability is not all about separating recyclables from non-recyclables |
| D．It's hard for San Franciscans to change their recycling habits in the new times |
| A．the reason why MFR is not worried about poor-quality waste |
| B．China's new policy to keep foreign rubbish out |
| C．efforts to teach residents how better to sort their rubbish |
| D．the components (成分) of the mixed waste in America |
