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A Japanese company has found a way to turn unwanted rice into plastic goods.
一家日本公司找到了一种可以把非食用大米转化为塑料产品的方法。
One company is working with farmers in the coastal town of Namie.
一家公司正在与沿海小镇浪江町的农民合作。
Nearby is the Fukushima nuclear center, closed since a nuclear disaster there in March 2011.
附近是自2011年3月发生核灾难以来一直关闭的福岛核中心。
Jinichi Abe is a local rice farmer.
安倍晋一是当地的一名稻农。
He says people do not want to buy his rice because they worry it is radioactive.
他说，人们不想购买他的大米，因为他们担心他的大米具有放射性。
The farmer has been trying for years to recover from the economic effects of the disaster.
这位农民多年来一直在努力从那场灾难的经济影响中恢复过来。
Now, he has a new way to sell his rice.
如今，他有了一种销售大米的新方式。
Tokyo-based company Biomass Resin opened a factory in Namie in November.
总部位于东京的生物质树脂公司去年11月在浪江町开设了一家工厂。
It turns locally grown rice into pellets for use in manufacturing.
该公司将当地种植的大米制成用于制造业的颗粒。
The pellets can be formed into all kinds of products, including plastic tools, food containers, shopping bags and souvenirs.
这些颗粒可以制成各种产品，包括塑料工具、食品容器、购物袋和纪念品。
"Without growing rice, this town can't recover," the 85-year-old Abe told Reuters news agency.
现年85岁的安倍告诉路透社记者：“如果不种植水稻，这个小镇就无法恢复。”
He said that in the years since the disaster, he has tried selling rice as animal feed, among other things.
他说，在灾难发生后的几年里，他曾尝试过将大米作为动物饲料等出售。
"Even now, we can't sell it as Fukushima rice," Abe said.
安倍说：“即使是现在，我们也不能把它当作福岛大米出售”。
"So having Biomass come was a huge help. We can grow rice without worries."
“因此，生物质树脂公司给予了巨大的帮助。我们可以无顾虑地种植水稻了。”
Officials ordered people in the area to flee when the nuclear factory's reactors exploded and released radiation.
当核电站的反应堆爆炸并释放出辐射时，官员们命令该地区的人们逃离。
The government permitted some people to return to their lives in Namie in 2017 after a major cleanup of the area.
2017年，在对浪江町进行了大规模清理后，政府允许一些人重返该地区生活。
About 80 percent of the town's land remains off-limits and currently about 2,000 people live there.
该镇约80%的土地仍是禁区，目前约有2000人居住在那里。
About 21,000 people lived in Namie before the accident.
事故发生前，浪江町约有2.1万人居住。
Town official Satoshi Konno admits things are still difficult for people in the area.
镇上官员今野聪承认，对该地区的人们来说，生活仍然很艰难。
"We want businesses that will create as many jobs as possible - basically, manufacturing," he said.
他说：“我们希望企业能够创造尽可能多的就业机会——基本上就是制造业”。
Since 2017, eight companies have come back.
自2017年以来，已有8家公司回来。
These include a concrete manufacturing center and an electric vehicle battery recycler.
其中包括一个混凝土制造中心和一个电动汽车电池回收厂。
Those companies created about 200 jobs.
这些公司创造了大约200个就业岗位。
The town is under discussions with still more companies and research centers that might bring in more people.
该镇正在与更多的公司和研究中心进行讨论，可能会吸引更多的人。
Takemitsu Imazu is president of Biomass Resin Fukushima.
Takemitsu Imazu是福岛生物质树脂公司的总裁。
He told Reuters that even though the area has mostly recovered, the economy is still severely suffering.
他告诉路透社，尽管该地区已经基本恢复，但经济仍然严重受损。
"By building our factory here, we want to bring jobs and invite people back."
“通过在这里建厂，我们希望创造就业机会，吸引人们回来。”
Imazu says the plastic products created from rice are not biodegradable, meaning they cannot be broken down into other material through natural processes.
Imazu说，用大米制成的塑料产品是不可生物降解的，意思是它们不能通过自然过程分解成其他材料。
However, combining rice and plastic cuts down on the amount of carbon needed during production, he added.
然而，他补充说，把大米和塑料相结合可以减少生产过程中所需的碳量。
The company also says growing more rice in Namie reduces overall levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
该公司还表示，在浪江町种植更多的水稻可以降低大气中二氧化碳的总体含量。
In addition, nuclear experts say rice naturally takes in little radioactive material.
此外，核专家表示，大米天然吸收的放射性物质很少。
Biomass Resin now employs 10 people in Namie, including a 20-year-old who returned, and the company hopes to expand.
目前，生物质树脂公司在浪江町雇佣了10名员工，其中包括一名20岁的回镇人员，该公司希望扩大规模。
It uses only about 50 tonnes of Namie rice.
它只使用了大约50吨浪江町稻米。
The rest of the 1,500 tonnes needed is mainly from elsewhere in Fukushima.
剩余所需的1500吨主要来自福岛其他地区。
But the company says it will buy a larger amount from Abe and his cooperative next year, grown on the freshly cleared fields.
但该公司表示，明年将会从安倍和他的合作社购买更多种植在新开垦的田地上的稻米。
I'm Bryan Lynn.
布莱恩·林恩为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
