Bubble Barrier: A new way to fight plastic pollution in waterways 氣泡屏障：應對運河水道塑料污染的新方法

（本節目中的原視頻內容拍攝於2023年7月）

本集內容

Bubble Barrier: A new way to fight plastic pollution in waterways 氣泡屏障：應對運河水道塑料污染的新方法

文字稿

These bubbles are helping to clean up Amsterdam’s canals by tackling plastic pollution in waterways.

這些氣泡可以幫助人們清理阿姆斯特丹的運河，因為它們可以處理運河水道中的塑料污染。

Philip Ehrhorn, The Great Bubble Barrier
“Behind me, you see the bubble curtain of our bubble barrier system. We think this is really the last opportunity to capture plastic in our waterways before it flows off into our oceans where it will then start dispersing and some will come back to our beaches, some will sink to the bottom of the ocean. But ultimately, it will start to break down into smaller and smaller pieces.”

菲利普·埃爾霍恩 The Great Bubble Barrier 公司
“在我身後的水中，你可以看到我們公司氣泡屏障的氣泡幕。我們認為這道氣泡幕是在運河水道中捕獲塑料的最後機會，不然這些塑料就會流入海洋，在海裡擴散開來，有些塑料會被沖回海灘，有些則會沉入海底。但最終，塑料會降解為越來越小的微粒。”

Amsterdam has 150 kilometres of canals and lots of plastic gets into them.

阿姆斯特丹有150公裡長的運河，有大量的塑料流入其中。

The inventors estimate the barrier stops 86% of that waste from flowing into the river and out to sea.

氣泡屏障的發明者們估計，這道屏障能阻止運河水道中86%的塑料垃圾流入河流，進而流入海洋。

Philip Ehrhorn, The Great Bubble Barrier
“So underwater we basically just have a perforated rubber tube. And then we put pressure onto that tube. And then through all the tiny little perforations, small air bubbles will start to rise towards the surface, which create that upwards current that can lift plastic towards the surface, and then guide it towards the catchment system. We see the usual suspects of plastic lids from bottles, cups, fragments of food containers, a lot of tiny little pieces of Styrofoam. This is really everywhere.”

菲利普·埃爾霍恩 The Great Bubble Barrier 公司
“氣泡屏障的工作原理基本上就是在水下鋪設一根穿孔的橡膠管，然後給橡膠管加壓。一些小氣泡會因壓力穿過管子上的微小孔洞，從下而上冒向水面，從而形成上升氣流，將塑料沖到水面上，然後引到集水系統中。這裡有我們經常看到的塑料垃圾 —— 瓶蓋、杯蓋，食品包裝容器的碎片，還有很多小的聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料顆粒。這種塑料顆粒真的是無處不在。”

A pump keeps the barrier working 24 hours a day. Then the city’s barges collect the waste.

一臺空氣泵使氣泡屏障24小時不間斷運轉。然後市政的垃圾清理船會收走氣泡屏障捕獲的垃圾。

Aart Breedt Bruijn, Local water authority
“We have three boats going around, and they pick up 42 tonnes of plastics every year. But we can’t go around, catch it at all locations, seven days a week. This is one of the places that whatever we miss, it will be filtered out here.”

阿爾特·佈雷特·佈魯因 Waternet 水務公司
“我們有三條垃圾清理船，每年能撈出42噸塑料。但我們無法一周七天不間斷地清理所有的塑料垃圾。而我們漏掉的那些塑料垃圾可以在這個地方被過濾出來。”

Another barrier is planned for Portugal later this year.

該公司計劃於今年晚些時候在葡萄牙安裝另一個氣泡屏障。

This may not stop plastic waste on its own, but it’s helping to reveal the extent of the problem.

僅憑氣泡屏障也許無法消除塑料垃圾，但它有助於揭示塑料污染問題的嚴重程度。