Japan is exploring the feasibility of forging the Olympic 2020 medals using precious metals salvaged from electronic waste.
日本正在探索使用電子垃圾中回收利用的貴金屬來制造2020年東京奧運會的獎牌。

Members of Japan's Olympic organising committee tabled the idea to government officials and companies earlier this year, local media reports said.
當地媒體報道，日本奧林匹克組織委員會的成員們在今年早些時候將此想法正式提交給了政府官員和相關公司。

Olympic host cities have traditionally obtained the metal from mining firms.
奧林匹克主辦城市向來是從礦產公司購入金屬。

But Japan, which lacks its own mineral resources, is keen to take the theme of a sustainable future a step further.
但是日本作為一個礦產資源缺乏的國家，致力于更深入地貫徹可持續未來的主題。

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has developed strict criteria for the world's greatest sporting event, and this extends to how the medals should be produced.
國際奧委會（IOC）為奧運會制定了嚴苛的標準，其中涵蓋了如何制作獎牌。

The Rio Olympics, for example, used gold that was extracted without the use of mercury and a third of the silver and bronze used came from recycled sources.
例如，里約奧運會的金牌就是在無水銀的情況下提煉而得，三分之一的銀和銅來自可回收材料。

How does e-waste recycling work?
如何回收電子垃圾？

Discarded consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablets contain small amounts of precious and rare earth metals, including platinum, palladium, gold, silver, lithium, cobalt and nickel.
在廢棄的消費性電子產品中，如智能手機和平板電腦都含有少量的貴金屬和稀有金屬，其中包括鉑金、鈀、金、銀、鋰、鈷和鎳。

Scrap cars and home appliances such as fridges and air conditioners also contain these rarer metals, along with base metals, including iron, copper, lead and zinc.
廢棄汽車和家用電器如冰箱和空調也含有此類稀有金屬，此外還有基本金屬如鐵、銅、鉛和鋅。

Recycling or refining companies either collect or purchase tons of this e-waste and industrial scraps. They then use chemical processes to separate the various metals.
回收公司、精煉公司收集或購買上噸的電子垃圾和工業廢料。然后利用化學反應分離不同的金屬。

Much of this work takes place in developing countries such as China, India and Indonesia.
這種工作大多在發展中國家如中國、印度和印度尼西亞完成。

Does Japan have enough for 2020?
日本有足夠的電子垃圾來生產2020年的所有獎牌么？

Japan has one of the highest recycling rates in Asia, according to OECD data. However, this mainly applies to plastic, paper and glass.
經濟合作與發展組織（OECD）的數據顯示，亞洲擁有最高回收率之一的國家就是日本。然而，他們回收的主要是塑料、紙張和玻璃。

About 650,000 tonnes of small electronics and home appliances are discarded in Japan every year, the Nikkei newspaper said. However, it is estimated that less than 100,000 tonnes is collected for recycling.
日經新聞稱每年日本有約65萬噸的小型電子設備和家用電器被丟棄。然而，其中回收再利用的預計不到10萬噸。

So for the 2020 Games, Japan will probably have to ask individual countries or companies to contribute towards the recycled metal collection effort.
所以為了2020年的奧運會，日本可能需要請求其他國家或公司共同幫助參與回收金屬。

How much metal is needed?
需要多少金屬？

The amount of metal needed will depend on the size and number of medals, since each year, they seem to get bigger and heavier.
所需的金屬數量取決于獎牌的大小和數量。每一年獎牌都在變得越來越大，越來越重。

Five new sports have also been added to the Tokyo 2020 competition, including baseball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing.
2020年奧運會新加了五項運動，分別是棒球、空手道、滑板、運動攀巖和沖浪。

The 2016 Rio Olympics had the largest medals of any games, weighing in at 500g each and 1cm thick in the middle.
2016里約奧運會的獎牌大小是有史以來最大的，重500克，中間厚1厘米。

The Brazilian Mint produced 5,130 medals in total, up from the 4,700 made by London's Royal Mint for the 2012 Games.
巴西鑄幣局總共制造了5130枚獎牌，超過了倫敦皇家鑄幣局為2012年奧運會制造的4700枚獎牌。

How much will it cost?
花費多少？

It may end up being cheaper using recycled metals than buying it on the spot market.
使用回收的獎牌會比在現貨市場上買便宜。

A little-known fact is that the gold medals are mostly made out of sterling silver and the bronze metals are mostly made out of copper.
一個鮮有人知的事實是金牌大多是由標準純銀制成，銅牌則大多由青銅制成。

Isn't that rather sneaky?
這是不是有點“卑鄙”？

The IOC minimum requirement for a gold medal is 6g of the pure yellow metal.
國際奧委會對金牌的要求是至少要有6克的金。

If the medals were made of pure gold, the overall cost would run into tens of millions of dollars.
如果獎牌是純金的，那么總花費將達到幾千萬美元。

Gold is currently about 70 times more expensive than silver. But some market experts think that may change by 2020.
現在金的價格比銀貴70倍。但是一些市場專家認為到2020年形勢會有所變化。

Global silver reserves continue to shrink as demand is exceeding supply and we mine only 11oz of silver for each ounce of gold, said Gregor Gregersen, the founder of Silver Bullion in Singapore.
全球銀儲存量在逐漸減少，供不應求。新加坡Silver Bullion的創立者格雷格爾·格雷格森說，我們每挖出一盎司的金，只能挖出十一盎司的銀。

Vocabulary

sterling silver: 標準純銀，法定純度銀制成品
spot market: 現貨市場

英文來源：BBC
翻譯：王慧雯（中國日報網愛新聞iNews譯者）
審校&編輯：丹妮