VOA慢速英语--Where Do Old Tires Go?

Not long ago, Nabipur was a quiet farming village in northern India. Now the village is home to several large furnaces. They burn old tires from Western countries. The air is sometimes thick with smoke and the soil black with soot¹.

By burning tires, the furnaces produce a low-quality oil in a process known as pyrolysis.

Six years ago, there were no pyrolysis production centers in the village, about 110 kilometers south of New Delhi. Now Nabipur has at least 10 plants, with most operating at night to avoid inspection², some locals say.

"Used tires are not available locally, so they import from abroad," said Shiva Choudhary, a businessman in Nabipur. "They clean their own country and dump their garbage on us."

The Reuters news agency sent reporters to three small pyrolysis plants in the village.

At one, workers wore no safety equipment. Black soot covered their skin and clothes. The owner, Pankaj, said a trader sells him tires imported from overseas.

Villagers said they have suffered from breathing problems and eye and throat infections since the plants began expanding. Farmers say they have found black dust in their soil.

The Reuters news agency could not independently confirm the claims. It was also not possible to verify if the operations had a government permit to operate.

International trade

International trade in waste tires has almost doubled over the past five years, mainly to developing countries like India and Malaysia. This information comes from customs records provided to the United Nations.

Britain is currently the largest tire exporter, followed by Italy and the United States. India, responsible for 32% of all imports worldwide last year, is by far the biggest buyer.

The Basel Convention is an international agreement that governs trade in dangerous waste. The convention does not define tires as hazardous³, meaning there are few restrictions⁴ on trading them.

In many countries, such as the United States, most old tires are placed in landfills, recycled or used as fuel in factories.

Pyrolysis supporters say the process can be a relatively⁵ clean way of disposing of tires and turning them into useful fuel. However, controlling pollution and processing waste can be costly⁶ and difficult to make profitable on a mass scale.

State-of-the-art plants can cost tens of millions of dollars. However, basic Chinese-made pyrolysis equipment can be purchased online for as little as $30,000.

At one plant Reuters visited in Malaysia, Bangladeshi immigrants

covered in dust put imported tires into a Chinese-made furnace. They

live in a small shelter next to the furnaces.

"People don't know where old tires go," said the owner, who gave his name only as Sam. "But if my factory doesn't exist, where will the tires go?" He said he had a permit to operate. However, Reuters could not verify this.

Health risks

Burning tires can release numerous harmful chemicals and gases into the environment, as well as particulates⁷, said Lalit Dandona. He heads the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative, a research group studying health issues in India.

Dandona said short-term effects included skin irritation⁸ and lung infections. Longer exposure could result in heart attacks and lung cancer, he said.

Other government agencies worldwide have reached similar findings.

Words in This Story

tire – n. a piece of rubber that goes around a wheel

soot – n. black particles that form when when something (such as wood or coal) is burned

garbage – n. useless or unwanted material

hazardous - adj. involving risk or danger

dispose – v. to give away; to set up or put into position

scale – n. size or amount

irritation – n. aggravation⁹; reddening of the skin

exposure – n. the condition of being made known

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1 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

2 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

3 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 particulates   

n.微粒，粒子( particulate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Techniques for controlling particulates include filtering, washing, centrifugal separation, and electrostatic precipitation. 控制颗粒污染物的技术包括过滤、洗涤、离心分离、静电沉降。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Only micronic particulates penetrate to the depth of the lung. 只有微细粒子穿透到肺深部。 来自辞典例句

8 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

9 aggravation   

n.烦恼，恼火

参考例句：

• She stirred in aggravation as she said this. 她说这句话，激动得过分。
• Can't stand the aggravation, all day I get aggravation. You know how it is." 我整天都碰到令人发火的事，你可想而知这是什么滋味。” 来自教父部分