And you might find it interesting that I became a garbage man,

我的工作是清潔垃圾

because I absolutely hate waste.

原因還蠻有趣的，我之所以選擇這個行業

I hope, within the next 10 minutes,

正因為我極度厭惡垃圾

to change the way you think

接下來十分鐘的演講

about a lot of the stuff in your life.

我希望能改變大家

And I'd like to start at the very beginning.

對生活周遭物品的看法

Think back when you were just a kid.

就從最早的時期開始講起

How did look at the stuff in your life?

回想一下小時候

Perhaps it was like these toddler rules:

你怎麼看待生活中的東西?

It's my stuff if I saw it first.

可能像一般小朋友心中的這套規則一樣

The entire pile is my stuff if I'm building something.

我先看到的東西都是我的

The more stuff that's mine, the better.

我在堆東西時成堆都是我的

And of course, it's your stuff if it's broken.

我的東西愈多愈好

(Laughter)

當然壞掉的都算是別人的

Well after spending about 20 years in the recycling industry,

(笑聲)

it's become pretty clear to me

從事回收產業二十年後

that we don't necessarily leave these toddler rules behind

我更清楚地體認到

as we develop into adults.

這些幼兒時期的規則

And let me tell you why I have that perspective.

並沒有隨著我們長大而全部消失

Because each and every day

讓我來說明這一點

at our recycling plants around the world

每天，每一天

we handle about one million pounds

全世界的廢棄物回收場

of people's discarded stuff.

處理著上百萬磅

Now a million pounds a day sounds like a lot of stuff,

人類製造的廢棄物

but it's a tiny drop of the durable goods

一天一百萬磅，聽起來似乎是很龐大的數量

that are disposed each and every year around the world --

但是這只佔每年全世界

well less than one percent.

被丟棄的耐用品的一小部分

In fact, the United Nations estimates

低於比百分之一

that there's about 85 billion pounds a year

事實上聯合國估計

of electronics waste

每年大約有八百五十億磅的

that gets discarded around the world each and every year --

電子廢棄物

and that's one of the most rapidly growing parts of our waste stream.

被棄置在全世界

And if you throw in other durable goods like automobiles and so forth,

這類垃圾正快速成長中

that number well more than doubles.

如果加上其它被丟棄的耐用品，像是車子之類的

And of course, the more developed the country,

總數還會增加到兩倍以上

the bigger these mountains.

當然一個國家的發展程度愈高

Now when you see these mountains,

堆積的垃圾山就愈大

most people think of garbage.

看到垃圾山時

We see above-ground mines.

多數人只想到垃圾

And the reason we see mines is because there's a lot of valuable raw materials

我們卻看到地上的礦山

that went into making all of this stuff in the first place.

我們認定它是礦山，是因為這些被丟棄的物品

And it's becoming increasingly important

當初都是由許多貴重的稀有金屬原料製成的

that we figure out how to extract these raw materials

在極度錯綜複雜的垃圾堆中

from these extremely complicated waste streams.

提煉出原料的技術

Because as we've heard all week at TED,

變得愈來愈重要

the world's getting to be a smaller place with more people in it

一整周的TED演講都傳達一個訊息

who want more and more stuff.

隨著人口不斷增長，世界變得愈來愈小

And of course, they want the toys and the tools

每個人都想要更多的東西

that many of us take for granted.

當然，他們會想擁有這些

And what goes into making those toys and tools

我們大部份人早已擁有的玩具跟工具

that we use every single day?

我們每天所用的玩具跟工具

It's mostly many types of plastics and many types of metals.

是用什麼材料製造的

And the metals, we typically get

主要是各種的塑膠和金屬

from ore that we mine

金屬原料

in ever widening mines

通常採自世界各地

and ever deepening mines around the world.

不斷擴大的礦坑

And the plastics, we get from oil,

或是更深層的礦坑

which we go to more remote locations

而塑膠，則是來自石油

and drill ever deeper wells to extract.

油田開採愈來愈偏遠

And these practices have

也愈來愈深

significant economic and environmental implications

兩者背後

that we're already starting to see today.

所牽扯的巨大的經濟和環境問題

The good news is we are starting to recover materials from our end-of-life stuff

直到今日，才逐漸浮現出來

and starting to recycle our end-of-life stuff,

好消息是我們開始在使用過的物品中找回有用的材料

particularly in regions of the world like here in Europe

並且開始回收這類物品

that have recycling policies in place

世界上有些地區，例如歐洲

that require that this stuff be recycled

回收政策已經落實

in a responsible manner.

並明確要求人們

Most of what's extracted from our end-of-life stuff,

必須盡責地回收物品

if it makes it to a recycler, are the metals.

這些用過的物品，交給回收公司後

To put that in perspective --

所提煉出來的成份主要是金屬

and I'm using steel as a proxy here for metals,

為了讓大家更清楚了解

because it's the most common metal --

我用鋼來說明整個金屬回收的情況

if your stuff makes it to a recycler,

因為鋼是最普遍的金屬

probably over 90 percent of the metals

當你把東西交給回收公司

are going to be recovered and reused for another purpose.

幾乎百分之九十的金屬

Plastics are a whole other story:

將會被找到而且重新使用

well less than 10 percent are recovered.

塑膠就完全不同了

In fact, it's more like five percent.

不到百分之十的塑膠被回收

Most of it's incinerated or landfilled.

實際上的數據是大約百分之五左右

Now most people think that's because plastics are a throw-away material,

其餘都被焚化或是用於填埋

have very little value.

多數人的觀念裡，塑膠本來就是用完即丟

But actually, plastics are several times more valuable than steel.

沒有什麼價值

And there's more plastics produced and consumed

但實際上，塑膠要比鋼貴上數倍

around the world on a volume basis

以容積來比的話

every year than steel.

全世界每年的塑膠生產與消耗量

So why is such a plentiful and valuable material

也比起金屬更多

not recovered at anywhere near the rate

塑膠不僅數量龐大又值錢

of the less valuable material?

為什麼它被回收利用的比例

Well it's predominantly because

卻不如那些價格較低的材料呢

metals are very easy to recycle

主要原因在於

from other materials and from one another.

從其他材料與其他金屬中

They have very different densities.

重新提煉金屬較為容易

They have different electrical and magnetic properties.

金屬的密度彼此相異

And they even have different colors.

電性跟磁性等特性都不同

So it's very easy for either humans or machines

外觀顏色也不同

to separate these metals

因此無論是倚賴人力或是機器

from one another and from other materials.

都能在多種金屬或其他材料中

Plastics have overlapping densities over a very narrow range.

分離出金屬

They have either identical or very similar

不同類別的塑膠卻有相近甚至相同的密度

electrical and magnetic properties.

電性與磁性

And any plastic can be any color,

也是近似或完全相同

as you probably well know.

塑膠可以有各種顏色

So the traditional ways of separating materials

這一點大家大多知道

just simply don't work for plastics.

所以傳統的材料分離法

Another consequence of metals being so easy to recycle by humans

不適用在塑膠上

is that a lot of our stuff from the developed world --

金屬比較容易被回收還有另一個因素

and sadly to say, particularly from the United States,

大多數的廢棄物是來自已開發國家

where we don't have any recycling policies in place like here in Europe --

很遺憾地說，特別是像美國這樣的國家

finds its way to developing countries

欠缺歐洲早已實施的回收政策又有許多廢棄物

for low-cost recycling.

他們便將開發中國家

People, for as little as a dollar a day, pick through our stuff.

當作是廉價回收廢棄物的管道

They extract what they can, which is mostly the metals --

那裡的人僅以一天一美金的低價去撿拾我們的廢棄物

circuit boards and so forth --

並竭盡所能地提取出有用的物質

and they leave behind mostly what they can't recover,

大多是金屬類或電路板等

which is, again, mostly the plastics.

然後丟棄無法回收的物質

Or they burn the plastics to get to the metals

這些大部分都是塑膠類

in burn houses like you see here.

或是在這樣的焚燒場中

And they extract the metals by hand.

燃燒塑膠以取出內含的金屬成分

Now while this may be the low-economic-cost solution,

他們以手工具提煉金屬

this is certainly not the low-environmental

這也許是低經濟成本的解決之道

or human health-and-safety solution.

但絕非低環境成本的策略

I call this environmental arbitrage.

也違反人類健康安全的考量

And it's not fair, it's not safe

我稱之為環境套利交易

and it's not sustainable.

這不公平，不安全

Now because the plastics are so plentiful --

而且無法永續發展

and by the way,

塑膠製品大量出現

those other methods don't lead to the recovery of plastics, obviously --

順便一提

but people do try to recover the plastics.

有些方法顯然並不能真正地回收塑膠

This is just one example.

但人們確實努力嘗試這麼做

This is a photo I took standing on the rooftops

這裡有個例子

of one of the largest slums in the world in Mumbai, India.

這張照片是我站在印度孟買一個貧民窟的屋頂拍的

They store the plastics on the roofs.

它是世界上最大的貧民窟之一

They bring them below those roofs into small workshops like these,

他們把塑膠存放於屋頂

and people try very hard to separate the plastics,

之後，拿進屋內像這樣的小型工作坊

by color, by shape, by feel,

他們努力的將塑膠分類

by any technique they can.

用顏色，形狀，觸感

And sometimes they'll resort to what's known as the "burn and sniff" technique

以及任何派得上用場的技巧

where they'll burn the plastic and smell the fumes

有時候採取所謂的「燃燒嗅聞法」

to try to determine the type of plastic.

就是將塑膠燃燒後

None of these techniques result in any amount of recycling

以產生的煙味來判斷分辨塑膠的種類

in any significant way.

這些技巧無法大量地

And by the way,

運用在塑膠回收

please don't try this technique at home.

提醒大家

So what are we to do about this space-age material,

切勿在家嘗試這類技巧

at least what we used to call a space-aged material, these plastics?

我們該怎麼處理這些太空時代的材料

Well I certainly believe that it's far too valuable and far too abundant

我們以前還宣稱塑膠是太空時代的材料呢

to keep putting back in the ground

我承認塑膠太過珍貴，數量也太過龐大

or certainly send up in smoke.

不該被埋回地裡

So about 20 years ago, I literally started in my garage tinkering around,

或燒成煙霧

trying to figure out how to separate

大約二十年前，我開始在車庫裡東試西試

these very similar materials from each other,

嘗試去分離

and eventually enlisted a lot of my friends,

這些特質相似的物質

in the mining world actually, and in the plastics world,

還拉了許多朋友一起幫忙

and we started going around to mining laboratories around the world.

特別是在礦業界跟在塑膠業界的朋友

Because after all, we're doing above-ground mining.

我們拜訪世界各地的礦物分析實驗室

And we eventually broke the code.

畢竟我們正在做的是地上礦物的開採

This is the last frontier of recycling.

終於我們破解了其中的奧秘

It's the last major material

這是回收領域的最新發展

to be recovered in any significant amount on the Earth.

也是地球上的重要材料中

And we finally figured out how to do it.

最後一種被大量回收的

And in the process, we started recreating

我們終於知道方法了

how the plastics industry makes plastics.

我們重新創造出

The traditional way to make plastics

塑膠業界製造塑膠的程序

is with oil or petrochemicals.

傳統塑膠製造的方法

You breakdown the molecules, you recombine them in very specific ways,

是使用石油或是石化原料

to make all the wonderful plastics that we enjoy each and every day.

將分子分解後，以非常特殊的方法重新組合

We said, there's got to be a more sustainable way to make plastics.

去製造各種我們每天都在使用的美好塑膠製品

And not just sustainable from an environmental standpoint,

而我們認為一定有一套永續的塑膠製造法

sustainable from an economic standpoint as well.

它不僅僅要確保環境上的永續發展

Well a good place to start is with waste.

也能促進經濟的常久發展

It certainly doesn't cost as much as oil,

從垃圾做起是個不錯的想法

and it's plentiful,

它不會像石油那麼昂貴

as I hope that you've been able to see from the photographs.

而且數量龐大

And because we're not breaking down the plastic into molecules

如同你在圖片中看到的一樣

and recombining them,

我們未採用傳統先分解成分子

we're using a mining approach to extract the materials.

再重新組合的方式

We have significantly lower capital costs

而是以採礦的方式提煉材料

in our plant equipment.

工廠設備只需

We have enormous energy savings.

相當低的資本

I don't know how many other projects on the planet right now

能源消耗也節省了許多

can save 80 to 90 percent of the energy

我不知道這個地球上有多少專案像我們一樣

compared to making something the traditional way.

在能源的使用上

And instead of plopping down several hundred million dollars

比起傳統方法節省了百分之八十到九十

to build a chemical plant

與其投入上億的資產

that will only make one type of plastic for its entire life,

去建座化學工廠

our plants can make any type of plastic we feed them.

卻僅能生產單一種類的塑膠

And we make a drop-in replacement

我們的工廠 ，提供任何塑膠，即可產出同種類的塑膠

for that plastic that's made from petrochemicals.

我們提供的替代塑膠

Our customers get to enjoy

取代了一般石化廠的製品

huge CO2 savings.

我們個客戶很滿意

They get to close the loop with their products.

省下了大量的二氧化碳排放

And they get to make more sustainable products.

他們得以致力於產品改善

In the short time period I have,

並製造更多永續性的產品

I want to show you a little bit of a sense about how we do this.

在這簡短的演講中

It starts with metal recyclers who shred our stuff into very small bits.

我想讓大家對我們的作業流程有些概念

They recover the metals

第一個步驟是金屬回收機，他們將回收品切成小碎塊

and leave behind what's called shredder residue -- it's their waste --

從中挑出金屬

a very complex mixture of materials,

剩下的就叫粉碎殘餘物，是金屬回收的垃圾

but predominantly plastics.

非常複雜的混合物

We take out the things that aren't plastics,

主要成分是塑膠

such as the metals they missed, carpeting, foam, rubber,

我們取出非塑膠類的成份

wood, glass, paper, you name it.

像是被忽略掉的金屬、地毯料、泡沬橡皮、合成橡膠

Even an occasional dead animal, unfortunately.

木材、玻璃、紙、舉凡你能想到的都有

And it goes in the first part of our process here, which is more like traditional recycling.

不幸地有時會發現動物屍體

We're sieving the material, we're using magnets,

這些是作業流程的第一步驟，與傳統回收作業相似

we're using air classification.

篩選材料的方法，有時使用磁鐵

It looks like the Willy Wonka factory at this point.

或空氣分級法

At the end of this process, we have a mixed plastic composite:

有點像是電影巧克力冒險工廠電影裡威利‧旺卡的工廠

many different types of plastics

這個步驟完成後，會得到塑膠混合物

and many different grades of plastics.

包含許多種類

This goes into the more sophisticated part of our process,

以及各種等級的塑膠

and the really hard work, multi-step separation process begins.

接著進行比較精密複雜

We grind the plastic down to about the size of your small fingernail.

也是是真正困難的部分，就是多階段的分離程序

We use a very highly automated process

我們把這些塑膠碾成小指指甲般大小

to sort those plastics,

使用高度自動化設備

not only by type, but by grade.

進行挑選分類

And out the end of that part of the process

依類型和等級

come little flakes of plastic:

這個步驟最後

one type, one grade.

會得到小塑膠薄片

We then use optical sorting to color sort this material.

有不同種類，不同等級

We blend it in 50,000-lb. blending silos.

然後用光學方法進行顏色分類

We push that material to extruders where we melt it,

在50000磅的儲存槽中混合後

push it through small die holes,

把材料擠入押出機，在機器中熔化後

make spaghetti-like plastic strands.

擠過模孔

And we chop those strands

形成像義大利麵形狀的塑膠條

into what are called pellets.

然後將長條切成顆粒

And this becomes the currency of the plastics industry.

這就是塑膠粒

This is the same material

這就是塑膠業界的基本原物料

that you would get from oil.

和以石油中製造成的塑膠粒

And today,

完全相同

we're producing it from your old stuff,

而今天

and it's going right back into your new stuff.

我們是從你的廢棄舊物中製造出來

(Applause)

它將成為新物品，重回到我們的生活

So now, instead of your stuff ending up

(鼓掌)