There can be no doubt that we have fallen completely out of love with plastics. UK environment secretary Michael Gove’s war on plastics and the EU’s recent announcement that it will make all plastics produced in the bloc recyclable by 2030 have made that official. Emotive images of distressed sea life and of disgusting plastic debris washed up on our shores are beamed daily into our living rooms. Combined with vociferous campaigns in the media about the evils of plastic coffee cups, straws and packaging, they have helped to reinforce our firm belief that plastics are enemy number one where the environment is concerned. And, of course, they are.
毫無疑問，我們已經完全失去了對塑膠的好感。英國環境大臣邁克爾•戈夫(Michael Gove)對塑膠製品宣戰，以及歐盟最近宣佈到2030年聯盟境內生產的所有塑膠製品都必須可回收，使這種情緒成爲官方立場。我們在起居室裏天天看到觸目驚心的畫面：海洋生物被塑膠製品坑害，以及令人作嘔的塑膠垃圾被衝上海岸。加上媒體大肆宣傳塑膠咖啡杯、吸管和包裝的種種危害，這些都強化了我們的堅定信念：塑膠製品已成爲環境的頭號敵人。當然，它們是。