Now there's finally a viable alternative to plastic.

現在終於有了塑膠的可行替代品。

We're really excited to take this technology to market and for the everyday consumer to start seeing this in their, you know, restaurants that they eat at every day.

我們非常高興能將這項技術推向市場，讓普通消費者開始在他們每天用餐的餐廳裡看到這項技術。

The spoon is made from a bio-plastic resin.

勺子由生物塑膠樹脂製成。

It looks like plastic, bends like it also, and the ultimate test?

它看起來像塑膠，彎曲起來也像塑膠，而最終的測試呢？

All right.

好吧

All right.

好吧

This is focus group of one.

這是一個焦點小組。

Okay.

好的

Here's one of your forks.

這是你的一個叉子。

Put it to the test.

進行測試。

Let's see how it works.

讓我們看看它是如何工作的。

Just off the line.

剛下線

Yep.

是的。

Works.

作品

What do you think?

你怎麼看？

Very good.

非常好

I like it.

我喜歡

I like it.

我喜歡

All right.

好吧

Love it.

我喜歡

Yep.

是的。

It works, just like plastic.

它很管用，就像塑膠一樣。

But the utensils are biodegradable.

但餐具是可生物降解的。

They're made from plants.

它們由植物製成。

Plastic pollution is a massive issue.

塑膠汙染是一個巨大的問題。

Everyone knows about the environmental impacts of it for the most part, but a lot of people don't realize some of the health issues that are arising from microplastic pollution.

每個人都知道它對環境造成的大部分影響，但很多人並沒有意識到微塑膠汙染帶來的一些健康問題。

That's something that really struck a chord with me and was a big reason that we wanted to find a solution.

這一點讓我深有感觸，也是我們想要找到解決方案的重要原因。

And then when we looked at the alternative landscape, there just weren't many, weren't There's actually a viable substitute for plastic, right?

然後，當我們研究替代品時，發現並不多，也沒有塑膠的可行替代品，對嗎？

So it makes sense why all these companies still use forks, knives, spoons that are made from plastic.

這也就解釋了為什麼所有這些公司仍在使用塑膠製成的叉子、刀子和勺子。

There's just not anything out there that's the same cost, the same quality, and is truly sustainable.

目前還沒有任何一種產品能達到同樣的成本、同樣的品質，而且是真正可持續的。

And so we wanted to solve those three problems with our technology, and I believe that's what we've done.

是以，我們希望用我們的技術解決這三個問題，我相信我們已經做到了。

Using plants to make plastic isn't a new idea, but it hasn't caught on because the finished product wasn't as durable or flexible as plastic.

利用植物製造塑膠並不是一個新想法，但由於成品不像塑膠那樣耐用或柔韌，所以一直沒有流行起來。

It also required a completely new manufacturing process, which was too expensive.

此外，它還需要全新的生產工藝，成本太高。

Plant Switch found a way to make products using bioplastics with the same process used to make plastic products.

斯維奇公司發現了一種方法，可以用製造塑料產品的相同工藝來製造生物塑料產品。

I think if you're going to replace plastic, you need to have something that can be used by people that are already making the products.

我認為，如果要取代塑膠，就必須讓已經在生產產品的人能夠使用。

It's great to have a different material, but if then every fork manufacturer in the world has to go launch a new facility in order to make it, that's going to make it a lot harder.

有一種不同的材料固然很好，但如果世界上所有的叉子製造商都必須建立新的工廠來生產這種材料，那就會變得更加困難。

And so our technology was designed to be compatible with the existing plastic supply chains, and that's something that's really resonated with our customers, with other manufacturers.

是以，我們的技術在設計上與現有的塑膠供應鏈兼容，這一點在我們的客戶和其他製造商中引起了很大反響。

That new technology is spread out across the Sanford warehouse.

這些新技術分佈在桑福德倉庫的各個角落。

Plant Switch believes its processes can replace petroleum-based plastic with plant-based plastic.

斯維奇公司相信其工藝可以用植物塑膠替代石油塑膠。

This I think really has a chance to move the needle in terms of converting plastic that's going to be around for a thousand plus years to something that's going to be around for the order of months.

我認為，這確實有機會將存在一千多年的塑膠轉化為只存在幾個月的塑膠。

We're looking at a lot of applications like cubs and disposable coffee capsules, and these are things that a lot of our potential customers are looking at as well.

我們正在研究幼崽和一次性咖啡膠囊等許多應用，這些也是我們許多潛在客戶正在研究的。

So there's a very kind of wide array of different final articles that could be made from this material.

是以，這種材料可以製作出多種不同的最終產品。

Bio-plastic items are made from the unwanted and unused leftovers from food production, like corn and soybean stalks and wheat straw.

生物塑料製品是用糧食生產過程中不需要和未使用的剩餘物製成的，如玉米、大豆秸稈和麥秸。

Those agricultural byproducts are ground up into a superfine powder and then put into a compounding process.

這些農副產品被研磨成超細粉末，然後進入複合工藝。

Our compounding process is taking the cellulosic agricultural residues and then we combine them with other natural bio-based polymers.

我們的複合工藝是將纖維素農作物殘留物與其他天然生物基聚合物混合。

And what that does is it creates a raw material, which is this right here.

這樣做的結果就是產生了一種原材料，也就是這個。

This is strands of plasticized material essentially, where again we've taken these agricultural residues, combined it with some other bio-based polymers that anything on its own wouldn't work well, but when we blend it together through our proprietary process, it gives it the strength and the physical performance characteristics that are needed to make a good plastic part.

這是一種塑化材料，我們將這些農業殘留物與其他一些生物基聚合物結合在一起，這些聚合物本身並不能很好地發揮作用，但當我們通過專有工藝將其混合在一起時，就能使其具有製造良好塑膠部件所需的強度和物理性能特徵。

This is called extrusion.

這就是所謂的擠壓。

So this is done in traditional plastics for traditional plastic materials and we're using it with bio-based materials.

是以，我們在傳統塑膠中使用傳統塑膠材料，在生物基材料中使用生物基材料。

So you get these long strands that go through this and then it goes into a pelletizer where it's chopped up into the small little pellets.

是以，你會得到這些長長的絲線，經過這道工序後，這些絲線會進入造粒機，在那裡被切碎成小顆粒。

And then they go to a mold where they're melted down.

然後，它們會被送到模具中熔化。

So they're melted down, they become liquid, they get shot into a mold.

是以，它們被熔化，變成液體，然後被射入模具中。

So if you have a fork, then it'll be a fork mold.

是以，如果你有一把叉子，那它就是一個叉子模具。

It fills it, presses it together, hardens it, and then out pops a piece.

它將其填滿、壓在一起、硬化，然後彈出一塊。

The products are all compostable and will biodegrade in a few months.

所有產品都可堆肥，幾個月後就會生物降解。

But you know, the unfortunate thing about eco-friendly products is there's always been that almost negative connotation of, well this can't be as good as the original, right?

但你知道，關於環保產品的不幸之處在於，它總是有一種近乎負面的含義，那就是：這不可能像原裝產品那麼好，對吧？

And so that's something that we're fighting is saying, no, we have designed this to be as good as the original, but this is truly sustainable.

是以，我們要做的就是說，不，我們的設計和原版一樣好，但這才是真正的可持續發展。

This is truly something that is compostable, biodegradable in all natural environments, right?

這才是真正的可堆肥、可在所有自然環境中生物降解的東西，不是嗎？

So it's an opportunity because once people try it, they realize that this is the same quality, but you have to get past that first initial reaction of, oh, this is not going to be as good.

所以這是一個機會，因為一旦人們嘗試了，他們就會意識到這是同樣的品質，但你必須克服最初的反應，即 "哦，這不會那麼好"。