The Problem with Plastics | Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez | TED

譯者: Yu Liu 審譯者: Helen Chang

So plastics.

塑膠。

Plastics come in all shapes, forms and colors.

塑膠有各種形狀、種類、顏色。

They are everywhere.

它們隨處可見。

They are in our makeup,

在我們的化妝品裡、

it packages our food

用來包裝食物、

and insulates our homes.

用來給我們的房子隔熱。

They are in airplanes and our favorite electronic devices.

塑膠在飛機裡， 在我們最愛的電子設備裡。

They are truly a remarkable material.

它們真是個了不起的物質，

But so are its troubles.

卻也帶來大麻煩。

And we produce and consume plastics in staggering quantities.

我們製造、消耗塑膠的數量驚人。

Since it's been mass-produced,

塑膠可以大量製造，

the world has created over 10 billion metric tons of it.

世界上已經製造 超過100億公噸的塑膠了，

Half of them just in the past 20 years.

半數是在過去20年製造的。

I have been investigating plastic pollution [for] about a decade,

我調查塑膠污染已經有十年了。

and I try to align my personal choices as a consumer

我也試著讓自己作為消費者的個人選擇

with the aspirations of my research.

符合我的研究抱負。

And you may think, “Oh, that’s easy, you know how to do it.”

你可能會想「喔，這很簡單呀。 你知道怎麼做。」

But actually it’s not.

事實上我不知道。

Sometimes it's impossible to avoid single-use plastics.

有時候一次性塑膠無可避免，

The system is built that way.

體制就是這樣。

The dominant narrative about plastics tell us that this is a consumer’s

大部分關於塑膠的陳述告訴我們

and a waste management problem.

這是消費者和廢棄物處理的問題。

Who of us here have not heard

在場的各位誰沒聽過

about the tales of gigantic plastic islands

巨大塑膠島飄浮在

floating in the middle of the ocean?

大海中央的故事？

Which, by the way, it's not true.

順便說一下，這不是真的。

And that low-income countries are to blame

還有低收入國家應該要

for most of the plastic waste entering our oceans.

為大部分塑膠廢棄物 流入海中負責的故事。

But this narrative is a misleading oversimplification

但這些故事都只是誤導人地過度簡化，

of a much bigger and complex story.

背後還有更大更複雜的故事。

Plastics and their chemical additives

塑膠和其中的化學添加物

are really a climate problem.

是嚴重的氣候問題。

Now, we need to think of plastics from a systemic perspective.

現在，我們需要從系統的觀點 思考塑膠問題。

So let me take you through the journey of plastics.

讓我來帶你們了解塑膠的旅程。

Plastics contribute to climate change from before the moment they are produced

塑膠在被製造前就開始影響氣候變遷，

to long beyond the moment they are disposed or landfill

它們被丟進垃圾掩埋場或海洋之後

or drift into the ocean.

影響還要更久。

And it will remain in the environment for centuries,

塑膠會在大自然中保持幾個世紀，

degrading ecological processes.

危害生態過程。

For 99 percent of all plastics

99%的塑膠

the starting point is fossil fuel hydrocarbons.

一開始是石油碳氫化合物。

Oil, gas and coal are extracted and refined to produce plastic

從中提取汽油、瓦斯、 煤炭，精煉成塑膠

and other synthetic chemicals.

和其它合成化學物。

And those processes generate greenhouse gases such as CO2 and methane.

這些過程會製造溫室氣體， 像是二氧化碳和甲烷。

Studies indicate that if nothing is done,

研究指出如果再無所為，

the production of single-use plastic alone will contribute to more than 10 percent

光是這些一次性塑膠產品 就會在2050年前

of all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

佔比超過10%的溫室氣體排放量。

And the thing is that our use of plastic last often just a few minutes

問題是我們通常只會 使用那些塑膠幾分鐘

or a few hours,

或幾小時，

then we throw them away,

然後就丟掉了。

and that generates further emissions.

而這會製造更多排放量。

And we know that our recycling system doesn't work.

我們知道回收系統沒有用，

It's broken everywhere.

它到處都是漏洞。

And recycling plastics is hard and not cost-competitive.

回收塑膠很困難， 而且沒有成本競爭力。

Most of the waste that has not been landfilled

大部分廢棄物如果沒有丟進垃圾場，

or incinerated domestically

或是在國內焚燒掉，

is shipped across the planet,

就會被運到地球的另一端，

and it reaches low-income countries

來到低收入國家，

where they are expected to be recycled.

希望塑膠能在這裡回收掉。

But this is one of those hypocrisies of globalization

但這只是全球化的偽善行為之一，

where rich countries outsource their problems to low-income countries.

有錢的國家把它們的問題 外包給低收入的國家。

And we know that these countries do not have the capacity

我們也知道這些國家並沒有能力，

nor the technology to deal with them in a soundly manner.

也沒有技術來完善處理這些塑膠。

And so huge amounts of plastics are illegally incinerated,

非常大量的塑膠被非法焚燒、

informally dumped or get lost at sea.

隨便扔掉或是丟入海中。

And as a result,

因為如此，

millions of tons of plastic every year get into our environment.

每年有幾百萬頓的塑膠流入大自然。

But even plastics that are soundly managed

就算這些塑膠有被好好地處理，

emit greenhouse gases.

也還是會產生溫室氣體。

Once plastics enter the environment, landfill, are dispersed in soil or water,

一旦塑膠進入大自然、掩埋場， 在土中或水中擴散，

they start a process of breaking down into micro and nanoparticles.

就會開始分解成塑膠微粒或奈米微粒。

I will just call them microplastic for the sake of the conversation today.

在今天的演講， 我把它們總稱為塑膠微粒。

And this process of breaking down emits powerful gases such as methane,

在分解的過程會產生強力氣體， 像是甲烷、

ethylene and CO2.

乙烯、二氧化碳。

And that's true for both traditional

不論是傳統塑膠

and biodegradable plastics.

還是可生物分解塑膠皆為如此。

On the surface of microplastics, new microbial communities can grow.

塑膠微粒表面會有 新的微生物群落增生。

We call them the plastisphere.

我們將這稱為塑膠生物圈。

And their biological activity also releases additional CO2

牠們的生物活動也會產生二氧化碳

and nitrous oxide into the environment,

和氧化亞氮到大自然中，

creating the possibility of further magnifying the climate problem.

很可能進一步加劇氣候問題。

It means that microplastic can also impair the growth

塑膠微粒會削弱浮游植物的

and the photosynthesis capacity of phytoplankton,

成長力和光合作用，

which are the microorganisms producing much of the oxygen we breathe.

而微生物製造許多我們呼吸的氧氣。

But also microplastics can have toxic effects on zooplankton,

塑膠微粒也會對浮游生物 產生毒性作用。

and the health of these organisms

而這些生物的健康

[is] essential for the functioning of all aquatic food webs.

對整個水生食物鏈的運作十分關鍵。

And unfortunately, the problems run even deeper.

不幸的是，問題影響的更深遠。

Microplastics bind with the so-called marine snow,

塑膠微粒和所謂的海洋雪互相牽連，

which are made out of the clumps of bacteria,

海洋雪由細菌群、

plankton and other organic material that sinks down into the ocean depth,

浮游生物和其它沉入海洋深處的 有機物質組成，

acting like a biological carbon pump.

就像生物泵一樣。

But microplastics risk affecting this marine snow

塑膠微粒危機會影響海洋雪，

and potentially decreasing the capacity of the ocean

可能減少海洋從大氣層

to absorb and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.

吸收、存放二氧化碳的能力。

And microplastics can be decreasing the reflective properties of snow and ice,

塑膠微粒會減少冰與雪的反射能力，

potentially accelerating the melting of glaciers and polar ice.

可能加快冰川和極地冰的融化。

So we have early enough indications

已經有足夠的早期徵象顯示

that plastic pollution is starting to change the processes

塑膠污染已經開始改變

地球氣候系統正常運作的能力。

that allow the Earth's climate system to work.

And this pollution is not a localized phenomenon.

塑膠污染不是局部現象。

Microplastics are everywhere,

塑膠微粒到處都是，

from the mountaintops of Everest

從聖母峰峰頂

to the deepest sediment in the Mariana Trench.

到馬里亞納海溝底部都有。

They are in the air we breathe,

它們在我們吸入的空氣中，

the water we drink and the food we eat.

在喝進口的水裡， 吃進嘴的食物裡。

They are now found in our bloodstream and our lungs.

現在連體內的血液和肺部 都有它們的蹤影。

And personally, the most terrifying,

對我來說最可怕的是，

in the placenta of our unborn children.

塑膠微粒在未出生嬰兒的胎盤裡。

Now, of course, plastic is a great material,

當然塑膠是個偉大的物質，

it's versatile and durable,

它用途廣泛、持久性高，

and in many ways it has allowed modern civilization

在許多層面上，它讓現代文明

to develop in the way it has.

得以發展到這個地步。

But it also comes with a lot of problems

不過它也帶來許多問題，

and the outlook is worrying.

前景令人擔憂。

Today, the total mass of plastic

如今，塑膠總量

is twice the total mass of all living organisms on the planet.

是地球上所有生物總量的兩倍。

But still, fossil fuel companies

但是，石油公司依舊

see hydrocarbon as their primary growth sector

認為碳氫化合物是他們 主要的成長區塊，

projecting a 30 percent increase of virgin plastic

計畫增加30%新塑料的產量，

for single-use plastic

以製造一次性塑膠，

just in the next five years.

就在接下來的五年執行。

We already see an accelerating pace in producing and releasing new chemicals

我們已經看見製造和釋放 新化學物的速度正在加快，

because there are many, many kinds of plastic.

因為有非常、非常多種類的塑膠，

Each one the result of a different chemical formula.

每一種都是不同的化學公式。

And we know that this is incompatible

我們也知道

這和保持在當前 對人類安全的空間內毫不相容。

with staying within the safe operating space for humanity.

And given how plastics impact the climate

我們知道塑膠會如何影響氣候

and the world's social ecological system,

和世界的社會生態系統，

this would spell a catastrophe.

塑膠會帶來多大的災難。

By the way, I'm not saying that we are completely doomed yet.

順帶一提，我不是在說 我們徹底完蛋了。

There are solutions.

還是有解決方法。

And it’s that worldwide, entrepreneurs and companies

那就是全世界的企業家和公司

are creating new designs and material

正在創造新的設計和物質，

that can substitute traditional single-use plastic.

可以取代傳統的一次性塑膠。

And social movements are consolidating

社會運動也正聯合起來

and educating people to reduce their plastic footprint

教導民眾減少塑膠足跡，

and pressuring local and world policy makers

對政策制定者施壓，

to enact strong policies.

要求更有效的政策。

And scientists are collaborating more than ever,

比以往更多的社會學者也互相合作，

communicating the urgency to limit not only the volume,

傳達事態的緊急， 不只要限制塑膠數量，

but the chemical diversity of plastics.

還要限制塑膠的化學多樣性。

And earlier this year,

今年早些時候，

representatives from over 170 nations at the UN Environment Assembly

聯合國環境署來自170個國家代表

adopted an initiative to end plastic pollution,

採取新措施要結束塑膠污染，

committing all these countries to participate in creating, by 2024,

這些國家承諾要在2024年以前

a legally binding agreement

訂立有法律約束力的協議，

that addresses the full life cycle of plastics,

來處理整個塑膠的生命週期，

from production to design

從製作、設計

to disposal.

到丟棄。

We need to stop thinking of plastic just as a waste problem,

我們不能再只把塑膠當作廢棄物問題，

one that can be solved by changing consumers's habits alone

認為只要改變消費者習慣、

and stopping using plastic bags.

停止使用塑膠袋就能解決。

We need to think of plastics as a climate problem,

我們要把塑膠當作氣候問題，

as a product that creates damage along all its journey,

因為這個產品整個過程都在製造損害，

from the drilling up of hydrocarbons to the spread of microplastics.

從取出碳氫化合物 到散播塑膠微粒。

And that can only be addressed in a systemic way.

而這只能用系統的方式處理。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）