The United Nations (UN) warned that waste from discarded electronics like mobile phones, laptops and refrigerators is piling up worldwide, and it urged far better recycling of the often hazardous¹ rubbish.

联合国日前警告称，报废的手机、笔记本电脑和冰箱等电子产品产生的垃圾正在全球泛滥成灾，并敦促要更好地回收这些通常有毒的垃圾。

A full 44.7 million tons of e-waste was generated around the world in 2016, up 8% from two years earlier, and that's the equivalent of 4,500 Eiffel Towers, according to a report from the UN's International Telecommunication² Union, the UN University (UNU) and the International Solid Waste Association.

联合国下属的国际电信联盟、联合国大学以及国际固体废物协会发布的一份报告称，2016年，全球共产生4470万吨电子垃圾，较两年前增加8%，相当于4500座艾菲尔铁塔。

By 2021, the world will likely be cluttered³ with a full 52.2 million tonnes of such waste, which today consists mainly of fridges, washing machines and other domestic appliances, but also increasingly mobile phones and computers.

到2021年，全世界可能会出现5220万吨这样的垃圾，这些垃圾主要来源于冰箱，洗衣机和其它家用电器，但现在手机和电脑的废料也越来越多。

At the same time, this waste, which can pose serious risks to human health and the environment, is rarely recycled or properly discarded, with most of it ending up at dumpsites or in incinerators, according to the report.

该报告指出，另外，这种会对人类的健康和环境造成严重的危害得垃圾，很少被回收或妥善弃置，其中大部分会在垃圾场或焚化炉中处理。

Only 20% of all e-waste, or 8.9 million tons, generated last year was documented as properly recycled.

其中只有20%，也就是890万吨的电子垃圾被登记为“妥善回收”。

"E-waste management is an urgent issue in today's digitally dependent world, where use of electronic devices is ever increasing," ITU chief Houlin Zhao said in a statement.

国际电联秘书长赵厚麟在一则声明中表示：“随着电子设备使用日益增多，电子废料管理已经成为当今依赖数字的世界的紧迫问题。”

Perhaps the most promising⁴ approach to reducing e-waste is a system where consumers no longer purchase devices, but instead only the services they provide, Ruediger Kuehr of UNU's Sustainable Cycles Programme told AFP.

联合国大学可持续循环项目人员鲁迪格·库尔向法新社透露，减少电子垃圾的最可行的方法是构建一个系统，在这个系统中消费者不再购买设备，而只享受其带来的服务。