ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mike Biddle - Plastics recycler
Discarded plastic, too often, ends up buried or burned, not recycled (it's just too complicated). But Mike Biddle has found a way to close the loop.

Why you should listen

Throwing water bottles into the recycling bin doesn’t begin to address the massive quantity of postconsumer plastic that ends up in landfills and the ocean. Because it’s so difficult to separate the various kinds of plastics – up to 20 kinds per product – that make up our computers, cell phones, cars and home appliances, only a small fraction of plastics from complex waste streams are recycled, while the rest is tossed. In 1992, Mike Biddle, a plastics engineer, set out to find a solution. He set up a lab in his garage in Pittsburg, California, and began experimenting with complex-plastics recycling, borrowing ideas from such industries as mining and grain processing.

Since then, Biddle has developed a patented 30-step plastics recycling system that includes magnetically extracting metals, shredding the plastics, sorting them by polymer type and producing graded pellets to be reused in industry – a process that takes less than a tenth of the energy required to make virgin plastic from crude oil. Today, the company he cofounded, MBA Polymers, has plants in China and Austria, and plans to build more in Europe, where electronics-waste regulation (which doesn’t yet have an equivalent in the US) already ensures a stream of materials to exploit – a process Biddle calls “above-ground mining.”

He says: "I consider myself an environmentalist. I hate to see plastics wasted. I hate to see any natural resource – even human time – wasted.”

More profile about the speaker
Mike Biddle | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Mike Biddle: We can recycle plastic

Mike Biddle: Plastiko lahko recikliramo

Filmed:
1,175,569 views

Manj kot deset odstotkov plastike se reciklira -- v primerjavi s skoraj 90 odstotki kovin -- zaradi izjemno zapletenega načina iskanja in sortiranja različnih vrst. Ta vrsta odpadkov je Mika Biddla tako motila, da je razvil poceni in neverjetno energetsko učinkovit obrat, ki lahko reciklira vsako vrsto plastike.
- Plastics recycler
Discarded plastic, too often, ends up buried or burned, not recycled (it's just too complicated). But Mike Biddle has found a way to close the loop. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
I'm a garbagesmeti man.
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Sem smetar.
00:18
And you mightmorda find it interestingzanimivo that I becamepostati a garbagesmeti man,
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In mogoče se vam bo zdelo zanimivo, da sem to postal,
00:21
because I absolutelyabsolutno hatesovraštvo wasteodpadki.
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ker absolutno sovražim odpadke.
00:23
I hopeupanje, withinznotraj the nextNaslednji 10 minutesminut,
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Upam, da bom v naslednjih desetih minutah
00:26
to changesprememba the way you think
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spremenil vaš pogled
00:28
about a lot of the stuffstvari in your life.
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na veliko stvari v vašem življenju.
00:30
And I'd like to startZačni at the very beginningzačetek.
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In rad bi začel na začetku.
00:32
Think back when you were just a kidfant.
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Pomislite nazaj na svoje otroštvo.
00:34
How did look at the stuffstvari in your life?
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Kako ste gledali na stvari, ki so vas obkrožale?
00:36
PerhapsMorda it was like these toddlermalček rulespravila:
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Mogoče po teh pravilih, ki veljajo med malčki:
00:40
It's my stuffstvari if I saw it first.
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Stvar je moja, če sem jo prvi videl.
00:43
The entirecelotno pilekup is my stuffstvari if I'm buildingstavbe something.
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Cel kup je moj, če nekaj sestavljam.
00:47
The more stuffstvari that's minemoj, the better.
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Več stvari ko je mojih, boljše je.
00:50
And of courseseveda, it's your stuffstvari if it's brokenzdrobljen.
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In seveda, tvoje je, če je zlomljeno.
00:53
(LaughterSmeh)
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(Smeh)
00:55
Well after spendingporaba about 20 yearslet in the recyclingrecikliranje industryindustrijo,
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Po dvajsetih letih v reciklažni industriji
00:57
it's becomepostane prettylepa clearjasno to me
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mi je postalo jasno,
00:59
that we don't necessarilynujno leavedopust these toddlermalček rulespravila behindzadaj
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da teh otroških pravil ne opustimo vedno,
01:01
as we developrazviti into adultsodrasli.
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niti ko odrastemo.
01:03
And let me tell you why I have that perspectiveperspektive.
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In naj vam povem, zakaj tako mislim.
01:05
Because eachvsak and everyvsak day
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Ker čisto vsak dan
01:07
at our recyclingrecikliranje plantsrastline around the worldsvet
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v naših obratih za reciklažo po vsem svetu
01:09
we handleročaj about one millionmilijonov poundsfuntov
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predelamo okoli 500.000 kilogramov
01:12
of people'sljudje discardedzavreči stuffstvari.
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stvari, ki so jih ljudje odvrgli.
01:14
Now a millionmilijonov poundsfuntov a day soundszvoki like a lot of stuffstvari,
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500.000 kg na dan se sliši veliko,
01:16
but it's a tinymajhen droppadec of the durabletrajno goodsblago
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a gre za kapljico v morje trajnih artiklov,
01:19
that are disposedodstranijo eachvsak and everyvsak yearleto around the worldsvet --
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ki jih vsako leto odvržemo po vsem svetu --
01:21
well lessmanj than one percentodstotkov.
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še manj kot en odstotek.
01:23
In factdejstvo, the UnitedVelika NationsNarodov estimatesocene
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Združeni narodi ocenjujejo,
01:25
that there's about 85 billionmilijardo poundsfuntov a yearleto
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da na leto nastane okoli 42 milijard kilogramov
01:27
of electronicselektronika wasteodpadki
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odpadne elektronike,
01:29
that getsdobi discardedzavreči around the worldsvet eachvsak and everyvsak yearleto --
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ki jo odvržejo ljudje po svetu --
01:31
and that's one of the mostnajbolj rapidlyhitro growingrastoče partsdeli of our wasteodpadki streamtok.
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kar je eden najhitreje rastočih delov našega sistema odpadkov.
01:34
And if you throwmetati in other durabletrajno goodsblago like automobilesavtomobili and so forthnaprej,
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In če dodate še drugo trajno blago, kot so avtomobili in podobno,
01:37
that numberštevilka well more than doublespodvoji.
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se ta številka več kot podvoji.
01:39
And of courseseveda, the more developedrazvili the countrydržava,
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In seveda, bolj razvita ko je država,
01:41
the biggervečje these mountainsgore.
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višje so te gore stvari.
01:43
Now when you see these mountainsgore,
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In ko vidite te gore,
01:45
mostnajbolj people think of garbagesmeti.
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vas večina pomisli na smeti.
01:47
We see above-groundnadzemnih minesmin.
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Mi vidimo rudnike na površju zemlje.
01:49
And the reasonrazlog we see minesmin is because there's a lot of valuabledragocen rawsurov materialsmaterialov
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In to zato, ker je v njih veliko vrednih surovin,
01:52
that wentšla into makingizdelavo all of this stuffstvari in the first placemesto.
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ki so jih porabili za izdelavo vseh teh stvari.
01:55
And it's becomingpostaja increasinglyvse bolj importantpomembno
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In vse pomembneje postaja,
01:57
that we figureštevilka out how to extractizvleček these rawsurov materialsmaterialov
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da ugotovimo, kako surovine spet pridobiti
02:00
from these extremelyizredno complicatedzapleteno wasteodpadki streamstokove.
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iz teh izjemno zapletenih sistemov odpadkov.
02:03
Because as we'vesmo heardslišal all weekteden at TEDTED,
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Kajti kot smo ves teden poslušali na TED-u,
02:05
the world'ssvetovno gettingpridobivanje to be a smallermanjši placemesto with more people in it
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svet postaja vse manjši, na njem pa je vse več ljudi,
02:08
who want more and more stuffstvari.
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ki hočejo vedno več stvari.
02:10
And of courseseveda, they want the toysigrače and the toolsorodja
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In seveda, hočejo igrače in orodja,
02:13
that manyveliko of us take for grantedodobreno.
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ki so bila za mnoge od nas nekaj samoumevnega.
02:15
And what goesgre into makingizdelavo those toysigrače and toolsorodja
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In iz česa nastanejo igrače in orodja,
02:18
that we use everyvsak singlesamski day?
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ki jih vsakodnevno uporabljamo?
02:20
It's mostlyvečinoma manyveliko typesvrste of plasticsplastike and manyveliko typesvrste of metalskovin.
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Gre predvsem za različne vrste plastike in kovin.
02:23
And the metalskovin, we typicallyobičajno get
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Kovine ponavadi dobimo
02:26
from orerude that we minemoj
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iz rude, pridobljene
02:28
in ever wideningrazširitev minesmin
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iz vedno večjih
02:30
and ever deepeningpoglabljanje minesmin around the worldsvet.
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in vedno globljih rudnikov po svetu.
02:32
And the plasticsplastike, we get from oilolje,
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Plastiko prdobivamo iz nafte,
02:35
whichki we go to more remoteoddaljeni locationslokacije
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ki se nahaja na vedno bolj oddaljenih lokacijah
02:37
and drillvrtanje ever deepergloblje wellsvodnjakov to extractizvleček.
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in v vedno globljih vrtinah.
02:40
And these practicesprakse have
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Vse to ima pomemben
02:42
significantpomembno economicgospodarsko and environmentalokolje implicationsposledice
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ekonomski in ekološki vpliv,
02:45
that we're alreadyže startingzačetek to see todaydanes.
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ki je danes že dokaj viden.
02:48
The good newsnovice is we are startingzačetek to recoveropomore materialsmaterialov from our end-of-lifeprenehati-od-življenje stuffstvari
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Dobra novica je, da začenjamo pridobivati materiale iz predmetov, ki niso več uporabni,
02:51
and startingzačetek to recyclereciklirati our end-of-lifeprenehati-od-življenje stuffstvari,
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in pričenjamo reciklirati neuporabne stvari,
02:53
particularlyzlasti in regionsregije of the worldsvet like here in EuropeEvropi
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posebej v regijah, kakršna je Evropa,
02:56
that have recyclingrecikliranje policiespravila in placemesto
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kjer obstajajo politike na področju reciklaže,
02:59
that requirezahtevajo that this stuffstvari be recycledreciklirano
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ki predpisujejo, da je stvari treba reciklirati
03:01
in a responsibleodgovoren mannernačin.
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na odgovoren način.
03:03
MostVečina of what's extractedcitat from our end-of-lifeprenehati-od-življenje stuffstvari,
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Večina recikliranega materiala iz neuporabnih stvari,
03:05
if it makesnaredi it to a recyclerreciklirajo, are the metalskovin.
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če te sploh pridejo v reciklažo, so kovine.
03:08
To put that in perspectiveperspektive --
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Naj ponazorim --
03:10
and I'm usinguporabo steeljeklo as a proxyzastopstvo here for metalskovin,
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vzemimo jeklo kot predstavnika kovin,
03:12
because it's the mostnajbolj commonpogosti metalkovinski --
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saj gre za najbolj uporabljano kovino --
03:14
if your stuffstvari makesnaredi it to a recyclerreciklirajo,
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če vaš predmet pride v reciklažo,
03:16
probablyverjetno over 90 percentodstotkov of the metalskovin
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bomo verjetno preko 90 odstotkov kovin
03:18
are going to be recoveredizterjati and reusedponovno uporabiti for anotherdrugo purposenamen.
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pridobili nazaj in uporabili v nov namen.
03:21
PlasticsPlastika are a wholeceloto other storyzgodba:
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Pri plastiki je drugače:
03:23
well lessmanj than 10 percentodstotkov are recoveredizterjati.
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povrne se veliko manj kot 10 odstotkov.
03:25
In factdejstvo, it's more like fivepet percentodstotkov.
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Gre bolj za kakih pet odstotkov.
03:27
MostVečina of it's incineratedsežigajo or landfilledodloženih.
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Večina je zgori ali se jo zakoplje.
03:29
Now mostnajbolj people think that's because plasticsplastike are a throw-awayodvržejo materialmaterial,
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Večina ljudi misli, da je to zato, ker je plastika odpadni material,
03:31
have very little valuevrednost.
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ki nima vrednosti.
03:33
But actuallydejansko, plasticsplastike are severalveč timeskrat more valuabledragocen than steeljeklo.
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A v resnici je plastika vredna nekajkrat toliko kot jeklo.
03:36
And there's more plasticsplastike producedproizvedeni and consumedporabljen
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In po svetu se glede na prostornino
03:38
around the worldsvet on a volumeprostornina basisosnove
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vsako leto proizvede
03:40
everyvsak yearleto than steeljeklo.
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več plastike kot jekla.
03:42
So why is suchtako a plentifulobilno and valuabledragocen materialmaterial
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Zakaj torej ta razširjen in vreden material
03:45
not recoveredizterjati at anywherekjerkoli nearblizu the rateoceniti
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ni recikliran niti približno v taki meri
03:47
of the lessmanj valuabledragocen materialmaterial?
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kot manjvredni materiali?
03:49
Well it's predominantlypretežno because
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Predvsem zato,
03:51
metalskovin are very easyenostavno to recyclereciklirati
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ker je kovine zelo enostavno ločiti
03:53
from other materialsmaterialov and from one anotherdrugo.
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od drugih materialov in eno od druge.
03:55
They have very differentdrugačen densitiesgostote.
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Imajo zelo različno gostoto.
03:57
They have differentdrugačen electricalelektrični and magneticmagnetno propertieslastnosti.
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Imajo različne električne in magnetne lastnosti.
03:59
And they even have differentdrugačen colorsbarve.
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Celo različnih barv so.
04:01
So it's very easyenostavno for eitherbodisi humansljudje or machinesstroji
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Tako jih človek ali stroj
04:04
to separateločeni these metalskovin
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enostavno loči
04:06
from one anotherdrugo and from other materialsmaterialov.
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eno od druge in od drugih materialov.
04:08
PlasticsPlastika have overlappingprekrivajo densitiesgostote over a very narrowozek rangerazpon.
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Različne vrste plastike imajo podobno gostoto v zelo ozkem razponu.
04:12
They have eitherbodisi identicalenako or very similarpodobno
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Imajo enake ali zelo podobne
04:14
electricalelektrični and magneticmagnetno propertieslastnosti.
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električne in magnetne lastnosti.
04:16
And any plasticplastika can be any colorbarva,
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In plastika je lahko kakršnekoli barve,
04:18
as you probablyverjetno well know.
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kot verjetno dobro veste.
04:20
So the traditionaltradicionalno waysnačinov of separatingločevanje materialsmaterialov
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Tako tradicionalni načini ločevanja materialov
04:22
just simplypreprosto don't work for plasticsplastike.
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pri plastiki enostavno ne delujejo.
04:26
AnotherDrugo consequenceposledica of metalskovin beingbiti so easyenostavno to recyclereciklirati by humansljudje
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Še ena posledica tega, da človek brez težav reciklira kovine, je,
04:29
is that a lot of our stuffstvari from the developedrazvili worldsvet --
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da veliko blaga iz razvitega sveta --
04:32
and sadlyna žalost to say, particularlyzlasti from the UnitedVelika StatesDržave,
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in na žalost, predvsem iz ZDA,
04:35
where we don't have any recyclingrecikliranje policiespravila in placemesto like here in EuropeEvropi --
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kjer ne obstajajo predpisi o reciklaži, za razliko od Evrope --
04:38
findsnajdbe its way to developingrazvoj countriesdržave
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gre v države v razvoju
04:40
for low-costpoceni recyclingrecikliranje.
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v poceni reciklažo.
04:43
People, for as little as a dollardolar a day, pickpick throughskozi our stuffstvari.
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Ljudje tudi za le dolar na dan brskajo skozi artikle.
04:46
They extractizvleček what they can, whichki is mostlyvečinoma the metalskovin --
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Ločijo, kar lahko, torej predvsem kovine --
04:48
circuitvezje boardsplošče and so forthnaprej --
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vezja in tako naprej --
04:50
and they leavedopust behindzadaj mostlyvečinoma what they can't recoveropomore,
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tisto, česar ne morejo ločiti, pa pustijo,
04:52
whichki is, again, mostlyvečinoma the plasticsplastike.
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pri čemer gre predvsem za plastiko.
04:55
Or they burnopeklina the plasticsplastike to get to the metalskovin
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Ali pa plastiko sežgejo, da bi prišli do kovin,
04:58
in burnopeklina houseshiše like you see here.
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kar se dogaja v takih sežigalnicah.
05:00
And they extractizvleček the metalskovin by handroka.
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In kovine ločujejo ročno.
05:04
Now while this maylahko be the low-economic-costgospodarsko-poceni solutionrešitev,
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To je morda ekonomsko gledano poceni rešitev,
05:07
this is certainlyzagotovo not the low-environmentalnizko-okoljske
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nikakor pa ni poceni z vidika okolja
05:09
or humančlovek health-and-safetyzdravje in varnost solutionrešitev.
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ali zdravja in varnosti ljudi.
05:12
I call this environmentalokolje arbitrageArbitraža.
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Temu pravim okoljska arbitraža.
05:15
And it's not fairpošteno, it's not safevarno
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Ni poštena, ni varna
05:18
and it's not sustainabletrajnostno.
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in ni trajnostna.
05:21
Now because the plasticsplastike are so plentifulobilno --
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Ker obstaja tako veliko plastike --
05:23
and by the way,
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in, seveda,
05:25
those other methodsmetode don't leadsvinec to the recoveryokrevanje of plasticsplastike, obviouslyočitno --
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druge metode ne omogočajo pridobitve plastike iz predmetov --
05:27
but people do try to recoveropomore the plasticsplastike.
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ampak zato, ker ljudje poskušajo priti do plastike.
05:29
This is just one exampleprimer.
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To je samo en primer.
05:31
This is a photofotografija I tookvzel standingstoji on the rooftopsstrehe
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Tole sliko sem posnel s strehe
05:33
of one of the largestnajvečji slumsslumih in the worldsvet in MumbaiMumbai, IndiaIndija.
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enega največjih slumov na svetu, v Mumbaju, v Indiji.
05:36
They storeshranite the plasticsplastike on the roofsstrehe.
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Plastiko hranijo na strehah.
05:38
They bringprinesi them belowspodaj those roofsstrehe into smallmajhna workshopsdelavnice like these,
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Potem jo nosijo v majhne delavnice, kakršna je tale,
05:41
and people try very hardtežko to separateločeni the plasticsplastike,
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in ljudje se zelo trudijo ločiti plastiko
05:44
by colorbarva, by shapeobliko, by feel,
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po barvi, obliki, na otip,
05:46
by any techniquetehnika they can.
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s kakršnokoli možno tehniko.
05:48
And sometimesvčasih they'lloni bodo resortresort to what's knownznano as the "burnopeklina and sniffNjuškati" techniquetehnika
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In včasih se zatečejo k tehniki "zažgi in povohaj",
05:50
where they'lloni bodo burnopeklina the plasticplastika and smellvonj the fumeshlapi
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kjer plastiko žgejo in vohajo hlape,
05:52
to try to determinedoločiti the typetip of plasticplastika.
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da bi ugotovili, za kateri tip gre.
05:55
NoneNobena of these techniquestehnike resultrezultat in any amountznesek of recyclingrecikliranje
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Nobena od teh tehnik pomembno ne prispeva
05:58
in any significantpomembno way.
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k reciklaži.
06:00
And by the way,
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In poleg tega
06:02
please don't try this techniquetehnika at home.
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te tehnike ne poskušajte doma.
06:04
So what are we to do about this space-agestarost vesolja materialmaterial,
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Kaj naj torej storimo s tem materialom vesoljske ere,
06:07
at leastvsaj what we used to call a space-agedprostor-let materialmaterial, these plasticsplastike?
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tako smo plastiko pač nekoč imenovali?
06:10
Well I certainlyzagotovo believe that it's fardaleč too valuabledragocen and fardaleč too abundantbogat
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Verjamem, da je vsekakor preveč vredna in je je preveč,
06:13
to keep puttingdajanje back in the groundtla
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da bi jo zakopavali
06:15
or certainlyzagotovo sendpošlji up in smokedim.
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ali sežigali.
06:17
So about 20 yearslet agonazaj, I literallydobesedno startedzačel in my garagegaraža tinkeringkrpanje around,
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Pred okoli dvajsetimi leti sem se v svoji garaži začel ubadati s tem,
06:20
tryingposkušam to figureštevilka out how to separateločeni
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kako naj ločim
06:22
these very similarpodobno materialsmaterialov from eachvsak other,
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te med seboj tako podobne materiale
06:24
and eventuallysčasoma enlistedprijavljeni a lot of my friendsprijatelji,
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in sčasoma sem prepričal veliko prijateljev
06:27
in the miningrudarstvo worldsvet actuallydejansko, and in the plasticsplastike worldsvet,
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iz sveta rudarstva in plastike,
06:30
and we startedzačel going around to miningrudarstvo laboratorieslaboratoriji around the worldsvet.
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da smo začeli obiskovati rudnike po svetu.
06:33
Because after all, we're doing above-groundnadzemnih miningrudarstvo.
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Kajti, konec koncev, ukvarjamo se z rudarjenjem na površju.
06:36
And we eventuallysčasoma brokezlomil the codeKoda.
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Končno nam je uspelo razvozlati šifro.
06:38
This is the last frontiermeja of recyclingrecikliranje.
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To je zadnja meja reciklaže.
06:40
It's the last majorMajor materialmaterial
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Je zadnji pomembni material,
06:42
to be recoveredizterjati in any significantpomembno amountznesek on the EarthZemlja.
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ki ga je na Zemlji mogoče reciklirati v pomembnih količinah.
06:44
And we finallykončno figuredfigured out how to do it.
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In končno smo ugotovili, kako to narediti.
06:46
And in the processproces, we startedzačel recreatingoddih
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V tem postopku smo začeli poustvarjati način,
06:48
how the plasticsplastike industryindustrijo makesnaredi plasticsplastike.
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na katerega industrija plastiko proizvaja.
06:50
The traditionaltradicionalno way to make plasticsplastike
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Tradicionalni način proizvodnje plastike
06:52
is with oilolje or petrochemicalspetrokemikalije.
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je iz nafte ali naftnih derivatov.
06:54
You breakdownrazčlenitev the moleculesmolekule, you recombinerecombine them in very specificspecifično waysnačinov,
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Molekule razdrete in jih na novo kombinirate na poseben način,
06:57
to make all the wonderfulČudovito plasticsplastike that we enjoyuživajte eachvsak and everyvsak day.
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da nastanejo čudovite vrste plastike, v kateri uživamo vsak dan.
07:00
We said, there's got to be a more sustainabletrajnostno way to make plasticsplastike.
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Rekli smo si, da mora obstajati bolj trajen način izdelave plastike.
07:03
And not just sustainabletrajnostno from an environmentalokolje standpointstališče,
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In to ne samo okoljsko trajen,
07:06
sustainabletrajnostno from an economicgospodarsko standpointstališče as well.
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temveč trajen tudi iz ekonomskega vidika.
07:09
Well a good placemesto to startZačni is with wasteodpadki.
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Dobro je začeti pri smeteh.
07:11
It certainlyzagotovo doesn't coststroški as much as oilolje,
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Vsekakor ne stanejo toliko kot nafta,
07:13
and it's plentifulobilno,
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veliko jih je,
07:15
as I hopeupanje that you've been ablesposoben to see from the photographsfotografije.
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kar upam, da ste uspeli videti na fotografijah.
07:17
And because we're not breakingzlom down the plasticplastika into moleculesmolekule
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In ker plastike ne razstavljamo na molekule,
07:19
and recombiningrekombinacija them,
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ki bi jih potem spet sestavljali,
07:21
we're usinguporabo a miningrudarstvo approachpristop to extractizvleček the materialsmaterialov.
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smo uporabili rudarski pristop k pridobivanju surovin.
07:24
We have significantlyznatno lowernižje capitalkapital costsstroške
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Naši stroški kapitala so veliko nižji,
07:26
in our plantrastlina equipmentopremo.
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ko gre za opremo obrata.
07:28
We have enormousogromno energyenergija savingsprihranki.
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Prihranimo ogromno energije.
07:30
I don't know how manyveliko other projectsprojektov on the planetplanet right now
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Ne vem, koliko drugih projektov na planetu lahko
07:32
can saveshranite 80 to 90 percentodstotkov of the energyenergija
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v tem trenutku prihrani 80 do 90 odstotkov energije
07:35
comparedprimerjali to makingizdelavo something the traditionaltradicionalno way.
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v primerjavi s tradicionalnim pristopom.
07:37
And insteadnamesto tega of ploppingplopping down severalveč hundredsto millionmilijonov dollarsdolarjev
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In namesto, da bi zapravili več sto milijonov dolarjev
07:39
to buildzgraditi a chemicalkemično plantrastlina
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za izgradnjo kemične tovarne,
07:41
that will only make one typetip of plasticplastika for its entirecelotno life,
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ki bi vseskozi izdelovala en sam tip plastike,
07:44
our plantsrastline can make any typetip of plasticplastika we feedkrmo them.
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naši obrati izdelajo vse tipe plastike, glede na surovine, ki jih uporabimo.
07:47
And we make a drop-inDrop-in replacementzamenjava
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In tako izdelamo nadomestke, enakovredne
07:49
for that plasticplastika that's madeizdelane from petrochemicalspetrokemikalije.
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plastiki iz naftnih derivatov.
07:51
Our customersstranke get to enjoyuživajte
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Naše stranke imajo korist
07:53
hugeogromno COCO2 savingsprihranki.
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od ogromnih prihrankov ogljikovega dioksida.
07:55
They get to closeblizu the loopzanke with theirnjihovi productsizdelkov.
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S svojimi izdelki zaprejo krog.
07:57
And they get to make more sustainabletrajnostno productsizdelkov.
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In dobijo bolj trajnostno naravnane izdelke.
07:59
In the shortkratek time periodobdobje I have,
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V kratkem času, ki mi je na voljo,
08:01
I want to showshow you a little bitbit of a sensesmisel about how we do this.
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vam želim približati naš pristop k temu delu.
08:04
It startsse začne with metalkovinski recyclersreciklirajo who shredShred our stuffstvari into very smallmajhna bitsbitov.
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Začne se s kovinskimi reciklatorji, ki material zdrobijo na zelo majhne koščke.
08:07
They recoveropomore the metalskovin
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Ti tudi poberejo kovine
08:09
and leavedopust behindzadaj what's calledpozval shredderdrobilnik residueostanek -- it's theirnjihovi wasteodpadki --
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in pustijo za seboj t.i. ostalino -- smeti --
08:11
a very complexkompleksno mixturemešanica of materialsmaterialov,
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kar je zelo zapletena mešanica materialov,
08:13
but predominantlypretežno plasticsplastike.
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a predvsem gre za plastiko.
08:15
We take out the things that aren'tne plasticsplastike,
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Izločimo stvari, ki niso plastika,
08:17
suchtako as the metalskovin they missedzamudil, carpetingpreproge, foampene, rubbergume,
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denimo ostanke kovin, obloge, peno, gumo,
08:20
woodles, glasssteklo, paperpapir, you nameime it.
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les, steklo, papir, da ne naštevam naprej.
08:23
Even an occasionalobčasno deadmrtev animalživali, unfortunatelyna žalost.
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Včasih na žalost celo kakšno poginulo žival.
08:25
And it goesgre in the first partdel of our processproces here, whichki is more like traditionaltradicionalno recyclingrecikliranje.
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To gre v prvi del postopka, ki je bolj podoben tradicionalni reciklaži.
08:28
We're sievingsejanje the materialmaterial, we're usinguporabo magnetsmagneti,
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Material presejemo, uporabljamo magnete,
08:30
we're usinguporabo airzrak classificationrazvrstitev.
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uporabljamo klasifikacijo z zrakom.
08:32
It looksizgleda like the WillyWilly WonkaWonka factorytovarne at this pointtočka.
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Na tej točki izgleda kot Čarli in tovarna čokolade.
08:34
At the endkonec of this processproces, we have a mixedmešano plasticplastika compositekompozit:
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Na koncu tega postopka pridemo do skupka mešane plastike:
08:37
manyveliko differentdrugačen typesvrste of plasticsplastike
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veliko različnih vrst plastike
08:39
and manyveliko differentdrugačen gradesrazredov of plasticsplastike.
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in veliko različnih stopen plastike.
08:41
This goesgre into the more sophisticatedprefinjeno partdel of our processproces,
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Temu sledi bolj prefinjen del postopka
08:43
and the really hardtežko work, multi-stepMulti-korak separationločitev processproces beginsse začne.
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in resnično trdo delo, večstopenjski postopek separacije, se začne.
08:47
We grindgrind the plasticplastika down to about the sizevelikost of your smallmajhna fingernailnohtom.
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Platiko zmeljemo na velikost nohta na mezincu.
08:50
We use a very highlyvisoko automatedavtomatsko processproces
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Uporabljamo visoko avtomatiziran postopek
08:52
to sortRazvrsti those plasticsplastike,
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sortiranja plastike,
08:54
not only by typetip, but by graderazred.
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ne samo glede na vrsto, pač pa tudi glede na stopnjo.
08:56
And out the endkonec of that partdel of the processproces
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Na koncu postopka pridobimo
08:58
come little flakeskosmiči of plasticplastika:
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majhne plastične kosmiče:
09:00
one typetip, one graderazred.
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en tip, ena stopnja.
09:02
We then use opticaloptični sortingrazvrščanje to colorbarva sortRazvrsti this materialmaterial.
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Nato material sortiramo z optičnim pristopom.
09:05
We blendmešanica it in 50,000-lb-lb. blendingmešanje silossilosi.
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Zmešamo ga v 25.000 kilogramskem silosu.
09:08
We pushpush that materialmaterial to extrudersekstruderji where we melttaline it,
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Material potisnemo v tlačilko, kjer ga stalimo,
09:11
pushpush it throughskozi smallmajhna dieumreti holesluknje,
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potisnemo skozi majhne luknje
09:13
make spaghetti-likešpagetom podobni plasticplastika strandsprameni.
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in napravimo špagetom podobne plastične niti.
09:15
And we chopChop those strandsprameni
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Nato jih razrežemo
09:17
into what are calledpozval pelletspeleti.
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v tako imenovane pelete.
09:19
And this becomespostane the currencyvalute of the plasticsplastike industryindustrijo.
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In to postane valuta industrije plastike.
09:23
This is the sameenako materialmaterial
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To je enak material
09:26
that you would get from oilolje.
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kot bi ga dobili iz nafte.
09:28
And todaydanes,
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In danes
09:30
we're producingproizvajajo it from your oldstar stuffstvari,
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ga proizvajamo iz starih stvari
09:33
and it's going right back into your newnovo stuffstvari.
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in tako iz njega nastajajo nove.
09:36
(ApplauseAplavz)
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(Aplavz)
09:45
So now, insteadnamesto tega of your stuffstvari endingkonec up
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Torej, namesto da bi vaši predmeti končali
09:47
on a hillsidehriba in a developingrazvoj countrydržava
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na kakšnem pobočju kake države v razvoju
09:49
or literallydobesedno going up in smokedim,
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ali pa dobesedno izginili v dimu,
09:51
you can find your oldstar stuffstvari
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jih lahko najdete
09:53
back on topna vrh of your deskmiza in newnovo productsizdelkov,
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na svoji pisalni mizi v novih izdelkih
09:56
in your officeurad,
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v svoji pisarni
09:58
or back at work in your home.
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ali pa pri vas doma.
10:00
And these are just a fewmalo examplesprimeri
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In to je samo nekaj primerov
10:02
of companiespodjetja that are buyingnakup our plasticplastika,
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podjetij, ki kupujejo našo plastiko
10:04
replacingzamenjati virgindevica plasticplastika,
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ter nadomeščajo novo plastiko
10:06
to make theirnjihovi newnovo productsizdelkov.
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pri izdelavi svojih artiklov.
10:08
So I hopeupanje I've changedspremenjeno the way you look at
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Zato upam, da sem spremenil vaš pogled
10:10
at leastvsaj some of the stuffstvari in your life.
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na vsaj nekaj stvari v vašem življenju.
10:12
We tookvzel our cluesnamige from mothermama naturenarava.
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Navdih smo vzeli pri materi naravi.
10:14
MotherMati naturenarava wastesodpadki very little,
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Mati narava vrže stran zelo malo,
10:16
reusesponovne practicallypraktično everything.
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temveč praktično vse ponovno uporabi.
10:18
And I hopeupanje that you stop looking at yourselfsami as a consumerpotrošnika --
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In upam, da boste nase nehali gledati kot na potrošnika --
10:21
that's a labeloznaka I've always hatedsovražil my entirecelotno life --
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to oznako sem vse svoje življenje sovražil --
10:24
and think of yourselfsami as just usinguporabo resourcesvirov in one formobrazec,
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in razmišljali o sebi kot uporabniku virov v določeni obliki,
10:28
untildo they can be transformedpreoblikovati to anotherdrugo formobrazec
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dokler jih ne bo nekdo preoblikoval v drugo obliko,
10:30
for anotherdrugo use laterpozneje in time.
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za kasnejšo uporabo.
10:32
And finallykončno, I hopeupanje you agreese strinjam with me
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In končno upam, da se strinjate,
10:35
to changesprememba that last toddlermalček rulepravilo just a little bitbit
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da malce spremenimo zadnje otroško pravilo,
10:38
to: "If it's brokenzdrobljen, it's my stuffstvari."
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v: "Če je zlomljeno, je moje."
10:41
Thank you for your time.
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Hvala za vašo pozornost.
10:43
(ApplauseAplavz)
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(Aplavz)
Translated by Klavdija Cernilogar
Reviewed by Tilen Pigac - EFZG

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mike Biddle - Plastics recycler
Discarded plastic, too often, ends up buried or burned, not recycled (it's just too complicated). But Mike Biddle has found a way to close the loop.

Why you should listen

Throwing water bottles into the recycling bin doesn’t begin to address the massive quantity of postconsumer plastic that ends up in landfills and the ocean. Because it’s so difficult to separate the various kinds of plastics – up to 20 kinds per product – that make up our computers, cell phones, cars and home appliances, only a small fraction of plastics from complex waste streams are recycled, while the rest is tossed. In 1992, Mike Biddle, a plastics engineer, set out to find a solution. He set up a lab in his garage in Pittsburg, California, and began experimenting with complex-plastics recycling, borrowing ideas from such industries as mining and grain processing.

Since then, Biddle has developed a patented 30-step plastics recycling system that includes magnetically extracting metals, shredding the plastics, sorting them by polymer type and producing graded pellets to be reused in industry – a process that takes less than a tenth of the energy required to make virgin plastic from crude oil. Today, the company he cofounded, MBA Polymers, has plants in China and Austria, and plans to build more in Europe, where electronics-waste regulation (which doesn’t yet have an equivalent in the US) already ensures a stream of materials to exploit – a process Biddle calls “above-ground mining.”

He says: "I consider myself an environmentalist. I hate to see plastics wasted. I hate to see any natural resource – even human time – wasted.”

More profile about the speaker
Mike Biddle | Speaker | TED.com

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