Mooncake Packages

Delicate things are not necessarily useful, although it takes a lot of time and money to make them. A perfect example is mooncake packaging. Apart from a small number of boxes that are saved by people who collect such things, most of the packages are thrown away. They are difficult to recycle because of the thin chemical coating on the outside of the boxes and their complicated interior structure.

Lin Min has the story.

 
A few days after the Mid-Autumn Day holiday, various mooncake boxes could be seen filling the garbage bins¹ in most neighborhoods. The packages can be delicate and vary in shape. Some are made of plastic, metal or wood and even have cloth linings³. Others are decorated with jade-like beads⁴. But all these beautiful and delicate mooncake packages are worth nothing to those who recycle waste.

"They're worthless. Beautiful but cheap. Eight jia per kilogram."

Recycling companies say the delicate packages are not as useful as cardboard, because they produce less paper pulp⁵.

"After they are soaked in water, the packages will be filtered along with the impurities⁶. They are non-recyclable."

Dong Jinshi, Vice⁷ President of the International Food Package Association, says he has conducted an experiment to test the components⁸ of mooncake packaging materials.

"There is a thin coating above the paper; therefore, it cannot be ripped up."

What about the silk-like golden lining²? Dong says it is made of plastic.

"Let's burn it. Look, the oil from the plastic is coming out, and you can smell the odor of plastic too. This is hard to recycle."

These delicate mooncake packages pose headaches for the employees at one waste recovery company, because categorizing is the first step in the recycling process.

"This is plastic-this piece of cloth on top-and cannot be recycled. We have to separate them by hand, right? It's really a big waste."

An estimated 250-thousand tons of mooncake packages valued at 2.2 billion yuan are discarded every year. Most of them are not recyclable.

Experts say that about 6,000 trees are cut down annually⁹ specifically to make packages for mooncakes.

The same problem goes with most of those beautiful gift packages in the market.

Government statistics indicate that more than 40 million tons of various packages are produced every year, most of which are not recyclable.

With the approach of the National Day holiday, it will be another peak time for delicate packaging. We hope that factories that produce gifts put greater effort into minimizing their product boxes and containers.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.

1 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

2 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

3 linings   

n.衬里( lining的名词复数 )；里子；衬料；组织

参考例句：

• a pair of leather gloves with fur linings 一双毛皮衬里的皮手套
• Many of the garments have the customers' name tags sewn into the linings. 这些衣服有很多内衬上缝有顾客的姓名签。 来自辞典例句

4 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

5 pulp   

n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆

参考例句：

• The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
• The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。

6 impurities   

不纯( impurity的名词复数 )； 不洁； 淫秽； 杂质

参考例句：

• A filter will remove most impurities found in water. 过滤器会滤掉水中的大部分杂质。
• Oil is refined to remove naturally occurring impurities. 油经过提炼去除天然存在的杂质。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

9 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。