本集內容

Making ‘plastic’ from peas 豌豆變塑料

學習要點

有關 “technology（技術）” 的詞匯

邊看邊答

Can the new biodegradable plastic capsules only be made from peas?

文字稿

Everyone in this lab is full of plastic. Well, their lab coats are anyway.

在這間實驗室里，每個人從頭到腳都是塑料。至少他們的實驗服都是塑料做的。

A lot of our clothes are full of tiny little balls that have got fragrance inside - it’s what makes them smell so nice. Now, normally they’re made of plastic, which washes into the environment and stays there for decades. What if you could make them out of something that’s better for the planet, like peas?

我們的很多衣服里面都含有大量帶有香味的小球，這就是衣物聞起來很香的原因。通常情況下，這些小球是塑料做的，塑料在洗滌過程中被沖到自然環境里，一呆就是幾十年。如果你能用更環保的原料制作這些小球呢，比如豌豆？

This is the first company in the world to engineer plant protein into a material that does the same job as single-use plastic. Things like the microcapsules that you’d often get inside fabric conditioners or cosmetics.

這家公司將植物蛋白改造成與一次性塑料功能相同的材料，為世界首例。例如微膠囊這種材料，它在衣物柔順劑或化妝品中很常見。

Anne Jacobs, biochemist, Xampla
At the moment, the microcapsules contain plastic which would not degrade and last for ages in the ocean. Our capsules were made of protein and would be eaten by fish eventually.

安妮·雅各布斯     Xampla 生物化學家
“目前，微膠囊中含有塑料，這種塑料不能被降解，長時間留在海洋中。我們的膠囊是由蛋白質做成的，最終會被魚吃掉。”

It’s taken fifteen years to perfect the process. Here they’re using peas, but you can use other common plants including potatoes. Eventually it comes out as a liquid that can be made into plastic-like sheets.

完善這個制作過程花了十五年的時間。這里他們用的原料是豌豆，但你可以使用其它常見的植物，包括土豆。最終成品以液體態呈現，然后可以再制成塑料狀的薄片。

Dishwasher tablets, sandwich packets, sweet wrappers – all made of something that biodegrades naturally in a matter of days.

洗碗機清潔片、三明治外包裝、糖果包裝，都是用幾天內就能自然降解的材料制成的。

Richard Westcott, BBC correspondent
Is there a danger you’re just replacing one problem with another? So, farmers who should be growing food are actually going to grow peas to make plastic and then we don’t have enough food?

理查德·威斯科特     BBC 通訊員
“有沒有這樣一種危險：你解決了一個問題，但取而代之的是另一個問題？本應種植食物的農民們卻要轉為種植豌豆來制作塑料，這樣我們就沒有足夠的糧食，怎么辦？”

Simon Hombersley, CEO Xampla
There are a lot of waste products already in the farming process that have got very low value or even are just ploughed straight back into the field, that can be sold on and used to make our kind of materials. Single-use plastics and microplastics don’t need to be made from fossil fuels. There’s something very wrong about making materials from oil that last just for a minute or two.

西蒙·霍姆伯斯利     Xampla 首席執行官
“在農業生產過程中，已經有大量的廢料，它們的價值很低，甚至直接被犁入地里，這些廢料可以被出售，用來制作我們需要的原料。一次性塑料和微塑料不需要由化石燃料制成。從石油中提煉制造只能維持一兩分鐘的原料，這是非常錯誤的。”

It’s thought the average family washes around 14 million tiny plastic balls down the drain each week. Several countries are in the process of banning them. Now there’s a way of swapping that harmful plastic for something made from peas.

據估計，一個普通家庭每周會把約1400萬個塑料小球沖進下水道。有幾個國家正在著手禁止含有這類塑料小球的產品。現在有一種方法：可以用 “豌豆塑料” 來代替有害的塑料。

詞匯

engineer 設計，制造

protein 蛋白質

microcapsules 微膠囊

perfect 完善，使完美

microplastics 微塑料

問題答案

No. Other common plants including potatoes can be used to make biodegradable plastic capsules.