FivehundredtonnesofChristmastreelightsandatleast25mbagsofplasticsweetwrappers,turkeycoverings,drinksbottlesandbrokentoyswillbethrownawaybyUKhomesthisChristmasandnewyear.Butonlyatinyproportionofthiswastewillberecycled.
Evenatothertimesofyear,onlyalittleunderaquarteroftheUK'splasticwasteisrecycled,butoverthefestiveperiodstilllessescapesthetipaccordingtoasurveybyhomedrinksmakerSodaStream.Globally,recyclingofplasticsisevensmaller.
TheoutcomeisabeliefthattheEarthisbeingslowlystrangledbyagaudycoatofimpermeableplasticwastethatcollectsingreatfloatingislandsintheworld'soceans;clogsupcanalsandrivers;andisswallowedbyanimals,birdsandseacreatures.
clogup堵塞；阻塞
Inmanypartsofthedevelopingworlditactsasanearubiquitousoutdoordecoration,alongroadsinIndia,aroundvillagesinAfricaandflutteringofffencesacrossLatinAmerica.Andwhenitisnotpilingup,itisoftenburnedintheopen,releasingnoxioussmoke.
noxious有毒的；有害的
Therearenoglobalfiguresonthetruescaleoftheproblembut,accordingtoPlasticsEurope,theEuropeantradeassociationforplasticsmanufacturers,265mtonnesofplasticareproducedgloballyeachyear.IntheUK,abouttwothirdsofthisisforpackaging;globally,thiswouldtranslateto170mtonnesofplasticlargelycreatedtobedisposedofafteroneuse.
disposeof处理；解决
EvenatthealmostunmatchedEUrecyclingrateof33%,twothirdsofthat–ormorethan113mtonnes–wouldendupinlandfill,beingburnedorclutteringuptheenvironment.Suchafigure,almostcertainlyahugeunderestimate,wouldbeenoughtocoverthe48contiguousstatesoftheUSinplasticfoodwrapping.IftheworldrecycledpackagingattheratetheUSdoes,15%,itwouldgeneratemorethanenoughplastictocoverChinainplasticwrap.Everyyear.
clutterup使杂乱；堆满；塞满contiguousadj.相邻的；邻近的
generate产生；导致；引起
AfewyearsagotheUKwasseizedwithworryaboutplasticbags:communitieswent"plastic-bagfree"andthethenprimeminister,GordonBrown,announcedhewouldtalktoretailersaboutphasingthemout.Intheabsenceofmuchchange,hissuccessor,DavidCameron,recentlyre-raisedtheideaofanationallevy.Inresponse,theplasticsindustryarguesthatthealternativeswouldbeevenmorewastefulintermsofgreenhousegasemissions.
beseizedwith被（强烈的情感、愿望等）影响
alternativeadj.供选择的；选择性的；交替的n.替换物；供替代的选择
greenhousegasemissions温室气体排放
Whatwouldaworldwithoutplasticlooklike?Earlierthisyear,Austria-basedenvironmentalconsultancyDenkstattimaginedsuchaworld,wherefarmers,retailersandconsumersusewood,tins,glassbottlesandjars,andcardboardtocovertheirgoods.Itfoundthemassofpackagingwouldincreaseby3.6times,itwouldtakemorethandoubletheenergytomakeandthegreenhousegasesgeneratedwouldbe2.7timeshigher.
themassof大多数
Tounderstandthis,considerthepropertiesofplasticthatmakeitsoattractive:itisdurable,flexible,itdoesnotshatter,itcanbreathe(ornot)anditisextremelylightweight.Asaresult,foodanddrinkareprotectedfromdamageandkeptforlengthsoftimepreviouslyunimaginable.
TheEuropeanPackagingandFilmsAssociation(Pafa)saysaveragespoilageoffoodbetweenharvestandtableis3%inthedevelopedworld,comparedwith50%indevelopingcountries,whereplasticpallets,crates,trays,filmandbagsarenotsowidespread.Oncethefoodreachespeople'shomes,itslifespanisalsoincreased–forashrinkwrappedcucumber,fromtwoto14days.
