Cleaning and sorting plastic made out of multiple polymers can be relatively expensive,
清理和將多種聚合物制成的塑料進行分類的成本相對昂貴,
especially if it is used to make low value products such as packaging.
尤其是這些塑料可以被用于制造低價值的產品,如包裝時。
But using such plastic as a replacement for bitumen is cost-effective, claims Mr McCartney.
但是使用這種塑料作為瀝青的替代品是很合算的,麥卡特尼說。
As an example, he says that a tonne of bitumen might cost around 400 pounds ($521) in Britain.
例如,他說一公噸瀝青在英國的成本約為400英鎊(521美元)。
A recycled-plastic additive for a standard road works out at 300-350 pounds a tonne.
標準公路的再生塑料添加劑總計為一公噸300到350英鎊。
The additive would replace a proportion of the bitumen, so there are savings to be made.
添加劑可替代部分瀝青,因此可以有所節省。
At present 5-10% of the bitumen is replaced by the additives, but this could be increased to 25%.
目前,5-10%的瀝青被添加劑替代,但這個比例可增加至25%。
Mr McCartney decided to develop specialist recycled-plastic additives after watching a practice sometimes employed in India to repair potholes.
在觀察了印度修補坑槽的方法后,麥卡特尼決定開發專門的再生塑料添加劑。
Plastic waste collected by pickers is piled into the hole and then set alight with diesel to form a molten mass.
采集者收集的塑料廢物被擠進洞中,然后用柴油起火形成熔融體。
It is crude and polluting, but it provides a fix of sorts. A number of roads in India are also made by mixing chopped-up plastic into bitumen.
這種方法粗糙且會造成污染,但提供了固定種類。印度很多公路也是通過將碎塑料與瀝青混合制成。
Australia is another country that is starting to recycle plastic into roads.
澳大利亞是另一個開始將回收塑料制成公路的國家。

Earlier this year a 300-metre stretch was completed in Rayfield Avenue, Craigieburn, a suburb of Melbourne, using a substance called Plastiphalt.
今年年初,300米長的公路在墨爾本郊區克萊基伯恩雷菲爾德大道完工,該條公路使用的是被稱為Plastiphalt的物質。
This consisted of recycled material from more than 200,000 plastic bags and packaging, 63,000 crushed glass bottles and toner from 4,500 printer cartridges.
其中包含來自20多萬個塑料袋和包裝的回收材料、63000個碎玻璃罐以及來自4500個打印機墨盒的調色劑。
All this was blended into 50 tonnes of reclaimed asphalt to create a total of 250 tonnes of road-building material.
所有這些都融入進了50公噸再生柏油中,制成總共250公噸的公路建造材料。
The road will be monitored to see how it performs.
將對這條公路進行監控看它的表現如何。
Stuart Billing of Downer, a firm involved in constructing the road, said that
參與建造這條公路的公司Stuart Billing of Downer表示
the cost of using the recycled materials was comparable with building a road in the usual way.
使用回收材料的成本與建造公路的常用方法相當。
But the road is expected to last a lot longer and prove better at coping with heavy traffic.
但是這條公路有望維持更久一點,事實證明它在應對交通擁擠上的表現更好。
Officials in Craigieburn reckon that the amount of rubbish used to construct the road, all of which was diverted from land-fill,
克萊基伯恩的官員估計用于建造公路的垃圾總量(這些垃圾都是來自垃圾填埋場)
is equivalent to what Rayfield Avenue's residents would have put into their recycling bins over the past ten years.
和菲爾德大道居民在過去十年內扔進回收桶的垃圾總量相當。
One of the biggest complaints to local councils is about the state of the roads, especially potholes.
對市政委員會最大的投訴之一就是關于該地的公路,尤其是坑槽。
Households in Australia and elsewhere might well do more sorting and recycling of plastic if they knew it could result in a smoother drive.
對澳大利亞和各地的家庭來說,如果他們知道垃圾最終會進入路面平整機中的話,他們很可能會對垃圾進行分類并對塑料進行回收。
譯文由可可原創,僅供學習交流使用,未經許可請勿轉載。