第1765期:Japanese Company Turns Unused Rice into Plastic Products

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将不需要的大米变成塑料制品的方法。

One company is working with farmers in the coastal town of Namie. Nearby is the Fukushima nuclear center, closed since a nuclear disaster there in March 2011.

一家公司正在与沿海城镇浪江市的农民合作。 附近是福岛核中心，该中心自 2011 年 3 月发生核灾难后关闭。

Jinichi Abe is a local rice farmer. He says people do not want to buy his rice because they worry it is radioactive. The farmer has been trying for years to recover from the economic effects of the disaster.

Jinichi Abe 是当地的稻农。 他说人们不想买他的大米，因为他们担心它有放射性。 多年来，这位农民一直在努力从灾难的经济影响中恢复过来。

Now, he has a new way to sell his rice. Tokyo-based company Biomass Resin opened a factory in Namie in November. It turns locally grown rice into pellets for use in manufacturing. The pellets can be formed into all kinds of products, including plastic tools, food containers, shopping bags and souvenirs.

现在，他有了新的销售方式。 总部位于东京的 Biomass Resin 公司于 11 月在 Namie 开设了一家工厂。 它将当地种植的大米变成用于制造的颗粒。 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. He said that in the years since the disaster, he has tried selling rice as animal feed, among other things. “Even now, we can't sell it as Fukushima rice,” Abe said. "So having Biomass come was a huge help. We can grow rice without worries."

“如果不种植水稻，这个小镇就无法恢复，”85 岁的安倍告诉路透社。 他说，在灾难发生后的几年里，他曾尝试出售大米作为动物饲料等。 “即使是现在，我们也不能把它当成福岛大米来卖，”安倍说。 “所以有了 Biomass 的到来是一个巨大的帮助。我们可以毫无后顾之忧地种植水稻。”

Officials ordered people in the area to flee when the nuclear factory’s reactors exploded and released radiation. The government permitted some people to return to their lives in Namie in 2017 after a major cleanup of the area.

当核工厂的反应堆爆炸并释放辐射时，官员命令该地区的人们逃离。 在对该地区进行大规模清理后，政府于 2017 年允许一些人返回他们在浪江的生活。

About 80 percent of the town’s land remains off-limits and currently about 2,000 people live there. About 21,000 people lived in Namie before the accident.

该镇约 80% 的土地仍然禁止进入，目前约有 2,000 人居住在那里。 事故发生前，大约有 21,000 人居住在浪江市。

Town official Satoshi Konno admits things are still difficult for people in the area. “We want businesses that will create as many jobs as possible - basically, manufacturing," he said.

镇官员 Satoshi Konno 承认该地区的人们仍然很困难。 “我们希望企业能够创造尽可能多的就业机会——基本上是制造业，”他说。

Since 2017, eight companies have come back. These include a concrete manufacturing center and an electric vehicle battery recycler. Those companies created about 200 jobs. The town is under discussions with still more companies and research centers that might bring in more people.

2017年以来，已有8家企业回归。 其中包括一个混凝土制造中心和一个电动汽车电池回收站。 这些公司创造了大约 200 个工作岗位。 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. He told Reuters that even though the area has mostly recovered, the economy is still severely suffering. "By building our factory here, we want to bring jobs and invite people back."

Takemitsu Imazu 是 Biomass Resin Fukushima 的总裁。 他告诉路透社，尽管该地区已基本恢复，但经济仍遭受重创。 “通过在这里建厂，我们希望带来就业机会并邀请人们回来。”

Imazu says the plastic products created from rice are not biodegradable, meaning they cannot be broken down into other material through natural processes. However, combining rice and plastic cuts down on the amount of carbon needed during production, he added. The company also says growing more rice in Namie reduces overall levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

今津说，用大米制成的塑料制品不可生物降解，这意味着它们不能通过自然过程分解成其他材料。 然而，他补充说，将大米和塑料结合起来可以减少生产过程中所需的碳量。 该公司还表示，在 Namie 种植更多水稻可以降低大气中二氧化碳的总体水平。

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. It uses only about 50 tonnes of Namie rice. The rest of the 1,500 tonnes needed is mainly from elsewhere in Fukushima. But the company says it will buy a larger amount from Abe and his cooperative next year, grown on the freshly cleared fields.

Biomass Resin 现在在浪江市雇佣了 10 名员工，其中包括一名 20 岁的回国员工，公司希望扩大规模。 它仅使用约 50 吨纳米米。 所需的其余 1,500 吨主要来自福岛的其他地方。 但该公司表示，明年将从 Abe 及其合作社购买更多，种植在新开垦的土地上。