VOA标准英语2009年-Entrepreneurs Turn Plastic Waste into Fuel

Plastic waste is swamping Asia's landfills, and some ends up at sea, harming marine¹ life. Now, environmentalists and entrepreneurs are attempting to recycle plastic back to its main component² - oil.

In the northern Pacific Ocean, scientists say a large pool of plastic waste half the size of the U.S. state of Texas, weighing 300 million tons, is threatening marine life. Ocean currents carried the waste from north Asia and North America.

Doug Woodring leads Project Kaisei - a small group of conservationists and entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, California and London, who aim to recycle the plastic into diesel³ fuel.

"The problem is a lot of this does not biodegrade. It does not go back to nature," he said. "When the plastic and the material gets smaller and smaller, sometimes the fish eat it or the turtles or the birds eat it. So there's a lot of problems with the health of the ocean and the marine life."

This summer, the organization will bring its boat, the Kaisei (or ocean planet in Japanese), to the so-called plastic vortex.

"We'll be taking out the Kaisei so we can do all kinds of studies on marine life, on toxicity⁴ issues, on material sciences and then on how to get the waste out, how to catch it - that's probably the biggest task here," he said. "We have new technologies that can turn that into diesel fuel. So that is something that at least can help subsidize cleanup in the future if we can get out there with bigger vessels⁵ and different netting," he said.

Most of the plastic waste that ends up in the ocean comes from land. Landfills are running out space and people throw debris⁶ into the water.

In Thailand's Rayong municipality, Single Point Energy and Environment recycles plastic waste into liquid fuel that is then sold to oil refineries⁷. Sativipa Panichkul is an environmentalist and an executive of the company.

"The technology will cut the molecule⁸ into a chain of oil and gas. It transforms the plastic back into its original form," said Sativipa.

Up to 10 tons of plastic waste, such as shopping bags and parts of appliances, toys, computers and office equipment can be fed into the recycling machine a day. That becomes 28 barrels of liquid fuel, which can be used directly in machinery⁹, motorcycles and heating systems.

"It is my intention to put the idea … to make the government adopt the policy in turning plastic waste into energy because Thailand has so much plastic waste - approximately a minimum of 2.5 million tons per year," said Sativipa.

After warnings from environmentalists, governments in Asia are beginning to address the problem of plastic waste. Hong Kong has imposed a tax on plastic bags. Thailand is studying a tax on oil-based plastics. But few governments are moving into directly recycling plastic into fuel.

Santivipa says two towns in Thailand are adopting his company's technology despite its price tag - the recycling machine costs $2 million - a sign that governments are willing to pay for a cleaner environment.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

3 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

4 toxicity   

n.毒性，毒力

参考例句：

• The hoarse grunt or squeal is characteristic of toxicity.嘶哑的哼声和叫声是中毒的特征。
• Dieldrin is related to aldrin,and its toxicity to earthworms is similar.狄氏剂与艾氏剂有关，对蚯蚓的毒性是相似的。

5 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

7 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

8 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

9 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。