Earth is becoming 'Planet Plastic' 地球正在变成“塑料星球”

据一组美国科学家们计算，迄今为止，人类共制造了约83亿公吨塑料。而产出如此惊人重量的塑料产品仅用了65年左右。83亿公吨相当于两万五千座纽约帝国大厦或十亿头大象的总重。然而，重要的问题是，像包装材料等类似的塑料制品往往只在很短的使用过后就被人们丢弃。请听报道。

Plastics define the modern age. From the start of mass-manufacturing in the 1950s, they’re now all around us, incorporated into everything – from food packaging and clothing to aeroplane parts and flame retardants.

The University of California-led team says the acceleration in use is extraordinary. Of that 8.3 billion tonnes, half has been made in just the past 13 years. Only nine percent has been recycled. The vast majority ends up in landfill.

Knowing the scale of the waste challenge is the starting point for tackling it, but with none of the commonly used plastics being biodegradable, new solutions are urgently needed. There's enough plastic debris out there right now, the team says, to cover an entire country the size of Argentina.

词汇表 define 定义

mass-manufacturing 大规模生产

incorporated into 用于…，掺入…

aeroplane parts 飞机部件

flame retardants 阻燃剂

acceleration 加速、加快

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★ Free water refill points opened to cut waste 英国推行“免费续水点”以减少塑料垃圾

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