Plastic Turnaround: Recycling Waste into Wonder Materials塑料的轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)：變廢為寶

羅賓·費(fèi)倫　李敬文/譯

Plastic recycling and pollution are two keystone problems facing society. Despite the popular belief that plastic wrapping or containers can be converted into useful products indefinitely， many can only be recycled once or not at all.

當(dāng)今社會(huì)面臨著塑料回收利用和塑料污染兩項(xiàng)基本難題。盡管人們普遍認(rèn)為，塑料包裝和塑料容器可以無(wú)限期地轉(zhuǎn)化為有用產(chǎn)品，但是許多塑料其實(shí)僅能再生一次，甚至根本不能再生。

Now a new generation of industrial technology offers to repurpose1 and recycle the millions of tons of plastic products and waste produced each year.

現(xiàn)在，新一代的工業(yè)技術(shù)可以改造、回收利用每年產(chǎn)生的幾百萬(wàn)噸塑料產(chǎn)品和廢料。

Chemically breaking it down

化學(xué)分解

Catalytic hydrothermal2 reactors can break down plastics into reusable chemicals and oils using heat， pressure， and the special properties of supercritical3 water， removing impurities and toxic byproducts. Another waste treatment technology creates a hot， fluid plastic mix that breaks down hard-to-recycle materials like cookie packets or food trays into oil for new plastics and fuel for power， making the entire system self-sustaining.

催化水熱反應(yīng)器可以利用熱、壓力，結(jié)合超臨界水的特性，將塑料分解為可重復(fù)使用的化學(xué)品和石油，并分離出其中的雜質(zhì)和有毒副產(chǎn)物。另一項(xiàng)廢物處理技術(shù)將難以回收利用的材料，如餅干包裝袋、食品托盤等，用制造出的高溫流體塑料混合物分解轉(zhuǎn)化為制造新塑料的石油和提供能源的燃料，讓整個(gè)系統(tǒng)實(shí)現(xiàn)自給自足。

Chemicals companies have also invested in the circular economy and waste reduction. To tackle the fact that only 20% of the more than 400 million US tons of plastic produced each year is recycled， BASF4 has introduced chemical stabilizers to make recycled plastics more robust and created catalysts to obtain higher purity oils from waste plastic.

化工企業(yè)同樣將資金投入到循環(huán)經(jīng)濟(jì)和廢物減量中。美國(guó)每年生產(chǎn)的塑料超4億噸，其中只有20%得到了回收利用。為了解決這一問(wèn)題，巴斯夫公司開(kāi)發(fā)出化學(xué)穩(wěn)定劑，以增強(qiáng)再生塑料的強(qiáng)度，并且研制了催化劑，從廢棄塑料中提煉出純度更高的石油。

Government investment will be needed to make sure that innovation stays on track. The UKs Textiles Circularity Centre is one example thats built using a $7 million grant to transform the textile and clothing industries by turning waste materials into textiles， cutting down on imported materials and stopping waste going to landfill and incineration5.

要確保創(chuàng)新行之有道，就需要政府投資。英國(guó)的紡織品循環(huán)中心就是一個(gè)實(shí)例。建立該中心使用了700萬(wàn)美元的政府撥款，通過(guò)將廢棄材料轉(zhuǎn)化為紡織品、減少材料進(jìn)口及不再對(duì)廢棄物進(jìn)行填埋或焚燒，推動(dòng)紡織和服裝業(yè)轉(zhuǎn)型。

All of this comes at a time when the World Trade Organization （WTO） is looking to counter the massive increase of single use face masks and other plastic PPE6 caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Efforts to change the plastics and other extractive7 industries mindset from one of “take， make and dispose” to circular production is part of the WTOs sustainable development goals.

所有這一切發(fā)生時(shí)，正值新冠疫情導(dǎo)致一次性口罩和其他塑料防護(hù)用品的用量激增，世界貿(mào)易組織（WTO）在尋求問(wèn)題的應(yīng)對(duì)方法。努力使塑料和其他提煉行業(yè)轉(zhuǎn)變觀念，從“獲取、制造、處理”轉(zhuǎn)為循環(huán)生產(chǎn)，是WTO可持續(xù)發(fā)展目標(biāo)的一部分。

Historical production

歷史產(chǎn)量

Tackling that mindset is a historical necessity. Between 1950 and 2015 the volume of plastic manufactured equaled 8.7 billion tons—more than a ton for every person on Earth. But by 2050， the total mass of plastic waste is forecast to reach 13 billion tons. Gas and chemical emissions from production， landfill waste， plus the breakdown of microplastics into our water and food， create a toxic environment with a devastating effect on the planets health.

改變這種觀念是歷史的必然。1950年至2015年間，全球一共生產(chǎn)了87億噸塑料，人均超過(guò)1噸。但到2050年，塑料廢棄物的總量預(yù)計(jì)將達(dá)到130億噸。在生產(chǎn)、廢料填埋以及微塑料分解過(guò)程中排放的氣體和化學(xué)物質(zhì)，進(jìn)入水和食物中，形成了有毒的環(huán)境，這對(duì)地球的健康有著毀滅性影響。

Up-cycling8 the future

未來(lái)改造利用

Providing hope for tackling the mountain of waste generated are researchers hoping to turn that plastic into wonder materials. Graphene is a simple one-atom-thick layer of carbon that has multiple uses from making lightweight flexible solar panels to developing new cancer treatments.

研究人員希望將廢棄塑料轉(zhuǎn)化為奇材，這有望解決堆積如山的廢料。石墨烯是一種僅單原子厚度的碳層，卻具有制作輕型柔性太陽(yáng)能電池板、研發(fā)新的癌癥療法等多種用途。

Scientists at Rice University in Houston have created a method called flash joule9 conversion， which upcycles plastic waste to graphene using electric current. Even more promising is the fact that the graphene created is high quality， cheaper to produce， and with fewer defects than other ways of making graphene.

萊斯大學(xué)位于美國(guó)休斯頓，該大學(xué)的科學(xué)家提出了一種名為“閃速焦耳轉(zhuǎn)化”的方法，利用電流將塑料垃圾轉(zhuǎn)化為石墨烯。更令人看好的是，與其他制備方式相比，以這種方式制成的石墨烯質(zhì)量很高、成本更低且缺陷更少。

Waste plastic can also be broken down into high value carbon nanotubes10 and clean hydrogen fuel in a matter of seconds using microwaves and cheap iron-based catalysts， another research team has discovered. Carbon nanotubes can then be used in water filters， as thin-film electronic coatings or in automotive parts， while hydrogen is used to fuel zero-emission vehicles， for energy storage and to heat buildings.

另一個(gè)科研團(tuán)隊(duì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，還可以利用微波和廉價(jià)的鐵基催化劑，將廢棄塑料在幾秒內(nèi)分解為高價(jià)值的碳納米管和清潔的氫燃料。碳納米管又可以用在水過(guò)濾器中、充當(dāng)電子薄膜涂層或用于制作汽車零部件。氫則可以為零排放汽車提供燃料、用于儲(chǔ)能或者建筑供暖。

“Our environment is being polluted by our consumption patterns，” says structural engineer Arthur Huang， creator of a mobile， solar-powered plastic upcycling plant called Trashpresso. His concept shreds waste polyethylene， polystyrene， and polypropylene and turning it into household items and plastic bricks. The way forward， he says， is to think like the Romans， who enthusiastically recycled materials to make their buildings.

“我們的環(huán)境正因?yàn)橄M(fèi)模式而受到污染?！苯Y(jié)構(gòu)工程師黃謙智說(shuō)。他發(fā)明了移動(dòng)式太陽(yáng)能塑料改造利用裝置“環(huán)生零耗機(jī)”，其理念是粉碎廢棄的聚乙烯、聚苯乙烯和聚丙烯，將它們轉(zhuǎn)化為家居用品和塑料地磚?！拔磥?lái)的方向，”他說(shuō)，“是像羅馬人一樣思考，他們熱衷于回收利用材料，用以建造房屋?！?/p>

These and other initiatives like the New Plastics Economy11 aim to transform our use of this handy material and to reduce the excess of plastic in our environment. Huang and his fellow innovators recognize that by making sure that plastic never becomes waste in the first place we can change the way we design and use it， so it is either reusable， recyclable， or compostable12.

諸如此類的倡議，例如“新塑料經(jīng)濟(jì)”，旨在轉(zhuǎn)變這種便利材料的使用方式，減少環(huán)境中過(guò)量的塑料。黃謙智及其同伴認(rèn)識(shí)到，首先確保塑料永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)成為廢料，就能改變?cè)O(shè)計(jì)和使用塑料的方式，讓它得到重復(fù)使用、回收利用，或者將它制成堆肥。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>

1 repurpose（為適合新用途）對(duì)……稍加修改。? 2 hydrothermal（與）熱液（有關(guān)）的。? 3 supercritical在臨界以上的，超臨界的。

4 德國(guó)化工企業(yè)，在全球化工企業(yè)50強(qiáng)中位列第一。? 5 incineration焚燒。? 6 = personal protective equipment個(gè)人防護(hù)用品。? 7 extractive提取的，提煉的。

8 up-cycle改造利用，升級(jí)改造（創(chuàng)造性地再利用廢料，使新材料具有更高的質(zhì)量和環(huán)境保護(hù)價(jià)值）。? 9 joule焦耳（能量或功的單位）。? 10 nanotube納米管。

11新塑料經(jīng)濟(jì)，首見(jiàn)于2016年達(dá)沃斯世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇，論壇提出建立塑料循環(huán)經(jīng)濟(jì)的愿景。? 12 compostable可制成堆肥的。