本集內容
Tackling the sea of plastic 應對海洋塑料污染
學習要點
有關“Recycling 回收”的詞匯
邊看邊答
Can only people living in coastal communities solve the problem of plastic waste?
文字稿
Reducing the eight million tons of plastic dumped in the world’s oceans every year is now a priority around the globe and closing the loop by recycling is one answer.
These are deposit return-or-reverse vending machines. You put used plastic bottles in and they pay out. It scans the bar code on the label and offers the chance to make a donation to charity or credit in this supermarket. Collections are made across Sweden and brought here to this plant 90 minutes south of Stockholm. They handle plastic and glass bottles as well as aluminium cans. The Swedes have been using this type of system since the mid-eighties.
But the country is no stranger to the scourge of plastic pollution, especially in the sea. It’s a major problem here but one the environment minister insists is solvable.
Karolina Skog – Swedish Environment Minister
“There are many interesting new materials coming up from research and innovation and I see that once we have knowledge on really sustainable materials we can enter them into market rather quickly because there is a public demand and we have legal tools to use if needed. So yes, I am optimistic if we work together policy and industry.”
And people too. As plastics break down to micro level and enter the food chain in our oceans, it’s not just an issue for coastal communities. It’s a problem that affects all of us and can only be solved by all of us.
減少目前每年倒入海洋中的八百萬噸塑料廢棄物是世界各國的當務之急。回收利用塑料制品是終止污染惡性循環的一個良策。
這些是回收塑料瓶的機器。把用過的塑料瓶放進去後，它就會吐出相當於現金的票券。同時它也能掃描票券上的條形碼，並提供將這筆收入捐贈給慈善機構的服務，或將票券抵兌機器所在的這間超市的消費券。從瑞典全國上下收集的廢品會被帶到這個位於斯德哥爾摩以南90分鐘的工廠裡。這裡可以處理塑料瓶、玻璃瓶以及鋁罐的回收。自八十年代中期以來，瑞典人一直在使用這個回收系統。
瑞典這個國傢對白色污染之苦並不陌生，特別是海洋裡的塑料。這是該國面臨的一個嚴重問題，不過瑞典的環境部長堅持認為這個問題是可以解決的。
卡羅利娜·斯科格 – 瑞典環境部長
“研究和創新成果為我們提供瞭很多有趣的新材料，我認為一旦我們研制出真正的可持續材料，就可以快速地將其投入市場，因為公眾對此有需求，而且必要的話，我們可以使用法律程序以確保將其盡快投入使用。所以，是的，隻要政策制定者和行業共同聯手，問題一定能解決。”
人們也是一樣。隨著塑料分解為微小的物質，進入海洋的食物鏈，這不僅是一個沿海居民要面對的問題。這是一個影響我們所有人的問題，也隻能由我們一起才能解決。
詞匯
dumped
傾倒
collections
收（垃圾）
sustainable materials
可持續材料（環保材料）
break down
分解
micro level
（物質）微小的單位
你知道嗎？
US scientists have calculated the total amount of plastic ever made and put the number at 8.3 billion tonnes. That is as heavy as a billion elephants.
美國科學傢算出，迄今為止生產出的塑料總重量已達83億噸，相當於十億隻大象那麼重。
問題答案
No. It’s not just an issue for coastal communities – it’s a problem that affects all of us and can only be solved by all of us.
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