BBC Learnings · Section 6

The circular economy

Today we're talking rubbish. That's a bit harsh.

Level: C1 · 122 sentences

Transcript

  1. Today we're talking rubbish.
  2. That's a bit harsh.
  3. I thought it was going to be interesting.
  4. I mean our topic is about rubbish, not that we are rubbish.
  5. I see. OK, do go on.
  6. Thank you. So,
  7. the amount of waste we produce around the world is huge
  8. and it's a growing problem.
  9. But there are some things that we can do, like recycling.
  10. Where I live, I can recycle a lot
  11. and I'm always very careful to separate,
  12. to split my rubbish into paper, metal, food, plastic and so on.
  13. But is that enough, even if we all do it?
  14. We'll look a little more at this topic shortly,
  15. but first, as always, a question.
  16. Which country recycles the highest percentage of its waste?
  17. Is it a Sweden, b Germany or c New Zealand?
  18. What do you think, Sam?
  19. Well, I'm not sure, but I think it could be Germany,
  20. so I'm going to go with that.
  21. Germany. OK. Well, we'll see if you're right a little later on.
  22. The BBC radio programme Business Daily recently tackled this topic.
  23. They spoke to Alexander Lemille, an expert in this area.
  24. Does he think recycling is the answer?
  25. Let's hear what he said.
  26. Recycling is not the answer to waste
  27. from an efficient point of view
  28. because we are not able to get
  29. all the waste separated properly and therefore treated in the background.
  30. The main objective of our model is to hide waste
  31. so we don't see as urban citizens or rural citizens,
  32. we don't see the waste, it is out of sight
  33. and therefore out of mind.
  34. What's his view of recycling?
  35. I was a bit surprised because he said recycling wasn't the answer.
  36. One reason is that it's not always possible to separate
  37. waste you can recycle from waste you can't recycle
  38. and that makes treating it very difficult.
  39. Treating means handling it and using different processes
  40. so it can be used again.
  41. And the result is a lot of waste,
  42. including waste that could be recycled but which is just hidden.
  43. And as long as we don't see it,
  44. we don't think about it.
  45. And he uses a good phrase to describe this
  46. out of sight, out of mind.
  47. And that's true, at least for me.
  48. My rubbish and recycling is collected
  49. and I don't really think about what happens to it after that.
  50. Is as much of it recycled as I think
  51. or is it buried,
  52. burned or even sent to other countries?
  53. It's not in front of my house
  54. so I don't really think about it.
  55. Out of sight, out of mind.
  56. Let's listen again.
  57. Recycling is not the answer to waste
  58. from an efficient point of view
  59. because we are not able to get
  60. all the waste separated properly and therefore treat it in the background.
  61. The main objective of our model is to hide waste,
  62. so we don't see as urban citizens or rural citizens,
  63. we don't see the waste, it is out of sight
  64. and therefore out of mind.
  65. One possible solution to this problem is to develop
  66. what is called a circular economy.
  67. Here's the presenter of Business Daily,
  68. Manuela Saragossa, explaining what that means.
  69. The idea then, at the core of a circular economic
  70. and business model,
  71. is that a product, like say a washing machine
  72. or even a broom,
  73. can always be returned to the manufacturer to be reused
  74. or repaired before then sold on again.
  75. The point is the manufacturer retains responsibility for the life cycle of the product it produces,
  76. rather than the consumer assuming that responsibility when he
  77. or she buys it.
  78. So it seems like a simple idea,
  79. though maybe very difficult to do.
  80. Yes, the idea is that the company that makes
  81. a product, the manufacturer,
  82. is responsible for the product, not the person
  83. who bought it, the consumer.
  84. So if the product breaks or reaches the end
  85. of its useful life, its life cycle,
  86. then the manufacturer has to take it back and fix,
  87. refurbish or have it recycled.
  88. I guess this would make manufacturers try to make
  89. their products last longer.
  90. It certainly would.
  91. Let's listen again.
  92. The idea then, at the core of a circular economic
  93. and business model,
  94. is that a product, like say a washing machine
  95. or even a broom,
  96. can always be returned to the manufacturer to be reused
  97. or repaired before then sold on again.
  98. The point is the manufacturer retains responsibility for the life cycle
  99. of the product it produces,
  100. rather than the consumer assuming that responsibility when he
  101. or she buys it.
  102. That's just about all we have time for in this programme.
  103. Before we recycle the vocab...
  104. Oh, very good, Neil.
  105. Before we... Thank you, Sam.
  106. Before we recycle the vocabulary, we need to get
  107. the answer to today's question.
  108. Which country recycles the highest percentage of its waste?
  109. Is it a Sweden, b Germany or c New Zealand?
  110. Sam, what did you say?
  111. And I said I think it's Germany.
  112. Well, I would like to offer you congratulations.
  113. Yay! Finally! Because Germany is the correct answer.
  114. Now let's go over the vocabulary.
  115. Of course. So, to separate means to divide or split different things.
  116. For example, separate your plastic from your paper for recycling.
  117. Treating is the word for dealing with, for example, recycled waste.
  118. The phrase out of sight,
  119. out of mind means ignoring something or a situation you can't see.
  120. A manufacturer is the person or company that makes something
  121. and the consumer is the person who buys that thing.
  122. and the length of time you can expect a product to work for is known as its life cycle.