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The plastic is first shredded and then run through a machine that resembles an immense die-press, which freezes it and forces it through a tiny opening at great pressure.
塑料先被切成碎片，之后再通过一台类似巨型模压机的机器，将塑料冻结，并在巨大压力下按压塑料使其通过一个狭小的开口处。
The plastic pops out as pellets – or nurdles, as they’re known – about the size of corn kernels.
这些塑料一粒粒弹出来，它们被称为塑料米粒，大小与玉米粒相当。
At the microscopic level, the plastic nurdle is much less dense than what plastic chemists call its original “crystalline” form.
在微观层面，塑料米粒的密度远低于塑料化学家所说的原始“结晶”状态。
The fibres that make up the plastic were originally packed into a tight lattice that made them smooth and strong; now, while still intact, the fibres are further apart and slack, which gives the enzymes a bigger area to attack.
构成塑料的纤维原先被包裹在使其光滑坚固的紧密晶格中；现在，虽然纤维仍完整无缺，但间距更大，结构也更松散，这也为酶创造了更大的作用面。
In the wild, the bacteria would produce a limited amount of plastic-targeting enzyme, and many other enzymes and waste products as well.
在野外，细菌会产生有限数量的能够降解塑料的酶，以及许多其他酶和废物。
To accelerate the process, Carbios pays a biotech company to harvest and concentrate huge amounts of pure plastic-digesting enzyme from bacteria.
为了加速这一过程，Carbios 公司付费让一家生物技术公司从细菌中提取和浓缩大量纯净的、可降解塑料的酶。
The Carbios scientists then place the plastic nurdles in a solution of water and enzyme, inside a sealed steel tank several metres high.
Carbios公司的科学家将塑料米粒放置于一个高数米的密封钢制容器中，其中装有水和酶的溶液。
In the adjoining lab where the process is tested, you can observe the reaction taking place in smaller vessels.
在测试加工过程的相邻实验室里，可在较小的容器中观察相关反应。
Inside, the off-white plastic bits swirl about like the flakes in a snowglobe.
在容器内，灰白色的塑料米粒像雪球中的雪花一样旋转着。
As time goes on, the plastic erodes away, its components dissolving into the solution, leaving only a greyish liquid churning behind the glass.
随着时间的推移，塑料会逐渐被侵蚀掉，其成分会溶解在溶液中，只留下一种在玻璃后面翻腾的灰色液体。
The liquid now contains not solid PET, but two liquid chemicals called ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid, which can be separated out and turned into new plastic.
现在的液体不再含有固体PET，而是两种被称为乙二醇和对苯二甲酸的液体化学物质，可以将它们进行分离制成新的塑料。
The technique Carbios has developed appears to scale easily.
Carbios开发的技术似乎可以轻松扩张。
Two years ago the company was recycling a few kilos of plastic in a lab; now it can do about 250kg a day.
两年前，该公司仅能在实验室回收几公斤塑料; 现在每天可以回收250公斤的塑料。
In 2025, it will open a much bigger facility near the border with Belgium, with the capacity to recycle more than 130 tonnes a day.
2025年，该公司将在比利时边境附近开设一个更大的工厂，日回收量将达到130吨以上。
