英国环境署(Environment Agency)的调查人员发现，在7个运往中国的25吨集装箱中，除了包含有玻璃、塑料、电子产品和金属外，还包括各类其他物品。因而，环境署向发送这些集装箱的比法公司提起诉讼，指控该公司向中国运送未经分类的垃圾。
经过三周庭审，位于伦敦的伍德格林皇家法院判决比法公司有罪。
(图 via energylivenews.com)
It has been illegal to send unsorted household waste to china since 2006.自2006年以来，将未经分类的生活垃圾运往中国一直是违法的。Paper can legally be sent to the country, but other heavily contaminated waste cannot.纸制品可以合法运往该国，但其他受到严重污染的垃圾则不能。▲Waste giant Biffa guilty of sending nappies to China (via bbc.com)
而在比法公司发往中国的集装箱中，除了玻璃、塑料、电子产品和金属等可回收物之外，还发现各种物品，包括散发着恶臭的纸尿裤和卫生巾。
"Instead of waste paper, investigators discovered diverse discarded debris such as shoes, plastic bags, an umbrella, socks, hand towels, unused condoms, video tape, toiletries and electric cable," the Environment Agency said.英国环境署说:“调查人员没有发现废纸，而是发现了各种被丢弃的垃圾，比如鞋子、塑料袋、雨伞、袜子、手巾、没有用过的避孕套、录像带、洗漱用品和电缆。”"The nappies and sanitary towels gave off a pungent 'vomit-like' smell when inspected by Environment Agency officers."“环境署官员检查时，尿布和卫生巾散发着‘令人作呕’的刺鼻气味。”▲Waste giant Biffa guilty of sending nappies to China (via bbc.com)
(图 via Getty Images)
英国环境署的官员认为讽刺的是，一些中国特色商品或进口到英国的物品，在使用完了之后，又被这家公司出口回中国。
“Biffa was also trying to export laminate flooring, coat hangers, pet food containers, toilet wipes, latex gloves and ironically, china.”(英国环境署：）“比法还试图出口强化地板、衣架、宠物食品容器、卫生纸、乳胶手套，讽刺的是，还有瓷器（与‘中国’谐音）。”Sarah Mills, an enforcement manager whose team investigated the breaches for the Environment Agency, added: “The waste contained offensive material likely to have been discarded by the receiving country, at great risk and cost to the environment and people. The guilty verdicts justify our decision to prosecute Biffa.”为英国环境署调查这些违法行为的执行经理萨拉·米尔斯补充说：“这些废物含有可能被接受国（中国）所废弃的污染性材料，对环境和人民造成极大的危险和代价。有罪判决证明我们起诉比法的决定是正确的。”▲Biffa guilty of exporting banned waste to China (via energylivenews.com)
尽管事实确凿，比法公司却还表示强烈反对法院的宣判，并正在考虑上诉。
Biffa argued that its containers were regularly inspected by Chinese customs agents. It also said the firms buying the waste often inspected containers before they were shipped to make sure they contained 98.5% paper, which is the industry standard.比法公司辩称，其集装箱定期接受中国海关的检查。比法公司还说，购买这些废料的公司在发货前经常检查集装箱，以确保其中含有行业标准规定的98.5%的纸张。Biffa said it supplied "vital raw material" to China to be recycled in an "environmentally sound" way.比法公司表示，它向中国提供了“重要的原材料”，以“环保”的方式回收利用。It said the material met international standards and blamed the Environment Agency for failing to lay out what level of contamination it would consider acceptable.该公司表示，这些材料符合国际标准，并指责英国环境署未列出它认为可以接受的污染水平。▲Waste giant Biffa guilty of sending nappies to China (via bbc.com)
(图 via Getty Images)
庭审过程中，陪审员们被告知，该公司利用两家中介机构管理了一笔交易，将垃圾运往中国广东的两处地点。
It paid them a combined fee of £640,000 to take more than 10,000 tonnes of what Biffa said was mixed paper.该公司向他们支付了总计64万英镑的费用，购买了比法公司宣称的，逾1万吨混合纸制品。▲Waste giant Biffa convicted of exporting unsorted household rubbish including nappies and condoms to China (via inews.co.uk)