世界之窗－Pay as You Trash 韩国丢弃食物要付费
阅读暖身粮食浪费近年来引发世界关注，全世界每年产出的食物有三分之一遭到浪费，却有七亿人口面临饥饿问题，处理浪费粮食也耗费高昂金额与环境代价。一些国家开始积极面对粮食浪费，法国规定超市须将未卖出食物捐给慈善团体，在韩国，政府则要求丢弃食物要按重量付费。进入本文前，请先想想以下单字怎么说：A.过度的 B.沥干 C.高达（数字、金额）
In a bid to control the nations growing problem with food wastage, the South Korean government has started a unique initiative ─ Pay as You Trash. Residents are required to separate their food waste from the rest of their trash and dump it separately in a centralised bin. And in order to access the bin, they actually need to pay by the kilo.
韩国政府实施了一项独特措施─「丢弃食物者付费」，以控制国内恶化的食物浪费问题。民众必须将垃圾中的食物区分出来，丢置到集中垃圾箱。而使用这个垃圾箱，可是得按垃圾重量付费的。
Even before the pay-by-weight system was introduced, South Koreans were still being charged for food waste ─ the cost was simply divided equally among the tenants of each apartment block. The new system is not only fair, but is also designed to make consumers really (1) feel the pinch of (A) excessive waste. The more food they (2) toss out, the more they end up paying.
秤重收费系统启动前，韩国人也必须为食物垃圾付费，费用由社区住户平均分摊。而系统不只更公平，它的设计也让浪费食物的消费者感到吃不消。丢掉越多食物，就要付越多。
And its working ─ residents like Seoul housewife Ms. Kwan are now adopting innovative methods to avoid food waste. She makes sure to (B) strain all the liquid out of leftover food before throwing it away. She also separates fresh produce and other food items into smaller portions so that only the required amount of ingredients are used per meal. While prepping vegetables, she tries to make use of as much of the edible parts as possible, in an effort to minimize waste.
这项措施确实奏效了，权太太是首尔的家庭主妇，像她这样的居民借着创新的方法避免食物浪费。把厨余丢掉前，她一定把水分沥干。同时她也将食材分成小份，这样一来每餐只会用到所需份量。而准备蔬菜时，可食用部分都会尽可能留下，以将食物浪费减到最低。
People used to buy a lot of food and throw away leftovers without much care, said Yu Gwang Mo, a government official from Seouls Mapo district. After realising they have to pay for how much they throw, they have started to control their food purchase.
「人们过去会买大量食物，轻易丢弃剩菜，」首尔麻浦区的政府官员Yu Gwang Mo说。「知道丢弃的食物都要付费后，就开始控制食物购买量。」
Restaurants and other food-based businesses are also actively trying to reduce their pay-by-weight disposal bill, by having their own food waste processor ─ a machine that converts food scraps into dried powder that can be used as fertilizer. Some restaurants are actively trying to reduce the amount of food they waste by donating leftovers to the poor and hungry.
餐厅与其他食品行业也积极尝试透过食物处理机，降低食物垃圾的帐单数字─处理机可以将厨余转变为脱水干粉，做为肥料。一些餐厅也将剩余食物捐给贫困、饥饿者，以减少浪费。
According to official surveys, food waste in South Korea accounts for 28 percent of total waste by volume. 30 percent of this comes from leftovers, while 5 percent of the wasted food is thrown away uneaten. In smaller restaurants, leftovers account for 68 percent of all food wasted. Disposal of this kind of waste costs the government a (C) whopping 800 billion won per year. Through various initiatives such as Pay as You Trash, the government has managed to cut food waste from 5.1 million tons in 2008 to 4.82 million tons in 2014.
官方调查显示，韩国食物垃圾中，食物占了28％。其中30％是厨余，而5％是完全未食用的食物。小型餐厅中的食物垃圾中，剩菜占了68％。处理这类垃圾每年花费政府8,000亿韩元。
透过「丢弃食物者付费」等各项措施，韩国政府将食物垃圾从2008年的510万吨降至2014年的482万吨。
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