How does e-waste recycling work?

如何回收电子垃圾？

Discarded consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablets contain small amounts of precious and rare earth metals, including platinum, palladium, gold, silver, lithium, cobalt and nickel.

在废弃的消费性电子产品中，如智能手机和平板电脑都含有少量的贵金属和稀有金属，其中包括铂金、钯、金、银、锂、钴和镍。

Scrap cars and home appliances such as fridges and air conditioners also contain these rarer metals, along with base metals, including iron, copper, lead and zinc.

废弃汽车和家用电器如冰箱和空调也含有此类稀有金属，此外还有基本金属如铁、铜、铅和锌。

Recycling or refining companies either collect or purchase tons of this e-waste and industrial scraps. They then use chemical processes to separate the various metals.

回收公司、精炼公司收集或购买上吨的电子垃圾和工业废料。然后利用化学反应分离不同的金属。

Much of this work takes place in developing countries such as China, India and Indonesia.

这种工作大多在发展中国家如中国、印度和印度尼西亚完成。

Does Japan have enough for 2020?

日本有足够的电子垃圾来生产2020年的所有奖牌么？

Japan has one of the highest recycling rates in Asia, according to OECD data. However, this mainly applies to plastic, paper and glass.

经济合作与发展组织（OECD）的数据显示，亚洲拥有最高回收率之一的国家就是日本。然而，他们回收的主要是塑料、纸张和玻璃。

About 650,000 tonnes of small electronics and home appliances are discarded in Japan every year, the Nikkei newspaper said. However, it is estimated that less than 100,000 tonnes is collected for recycling.

日经新闻称每年日本有约65万吨的小型电子设备和家用电器被丢弃。然而，其中回收再利用的预计不到10万吨。

So for the 2020 Games, Japan will probably have to ask individual countries or companies to contribute towards the recycled metal collection effort.

所以为了2020年的奥运会，日本可能需要请求其他国家或公司共同帮助参与回收金属。