如何讓塑料再生？

There can be no doubt that we have fallen completely out of love with plastics. UK environment secretary Michael Gove’s war on plastics and the EU’s recent announcement that it will make all plastics produced in the bloc recyclable by 2030 have made that official. Emotive images of distressed sea life and of disgusting plastic debris washed up on our shores are beamed daily into our living rooms. Combined with vociferous campaigns in the media about the evils of plastic coffee cups, straws and packaging, they have helped to reinforce our firm belief that plastics are enemy number one where the environment is concerned. And, of course, they are.

毫無疑問，我們已經(jīng)完全失去了對(duì)塑料的好感。英國(guó)環(huán)境大臣邁克爾•戈夫(Michael Gove)對(duì)塑料制品宣戰(zhàn)，以及歐盟最近宣布到2030年聯(lián)盟境內(nèi)生產(chǎn)的所有塑料制品都必須可回收，使這種情緒成為官方立場(chǎng)。我們?cè)谄鹁邮依锾焯炜吹接|目驚心的畫面：海洋生物被塑料制品坑害，以及令人作嘔的塑料垃圾被沖上海岸。加上媒體大肆宣傳塑料咖啡杯、吸管和包裝的種種危害，這些都強(qiáng)化了我們的堅(jiān)定信念：塑料制品已成為環(huán)境的頭號(hào)敵人。當(dāng)然，它們是。

And yet it is worth remembering that, although plastics have been going in and out of favour for many years, there have been times when they were the heroes of the age. In the 19th century, plastics brought the excitement of possessing goods within the reach of nearly everyone. Standing in for semi-precious materials — jet, amber, jade and ivory among them — early plastics made it possible for many more people to indulge in luxury goods than would otherwise have been the case. As well as democratising the thrill of wearing glamorous jewellery, playing billiards would not have been the same in the late 19th century as the balls were made of celluloid — despite being highly combustible.

然而，值得記住的是，雖然塑料制品多年來時(shí)而受寵、時(shí)而遭厭棄，但它們也曾有過成為時(shí)代英雄的時(shí)期。19世紀(jì)，塑料制品帶來了幾乎人人可以擁有某些物品的興奮感。作為黑色大理石、琥珀、玉器、象牙等半寶石材料的替代品，早期的塑料制品使得更多的人有機(jī)會(huì)享受奢侈品。除了普及佩戴迷人珠寶的興奮感之外，19世紀(jì)末用賽璐珞(celluloid)制成的臺(tái)球——盡管這種材料非常易燃——使這種游戲流行起來。

Jump to the early 20th century and the close relationship between plastics, mass production and new technologies was strongly reinforced. Bakelite made electric plugs possible and quickly became the material of choice to clothe new high-tech goods such as radios and gramophones, transforming them from items of furniture into symbols of the modern age. Indeed, a couple of decades later, the French cultural critic Roland Barthes celebrated the magical qualities of plastics, referring to them as the “stuff of alchemy”.

到了20世紀(jì)早期，塑料、大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)和新技術(shù)之間的密切關(guān)系得到了有力的加強(qiáng)。酚醛樹脂(膠木)使電源插頭成為可能，并迅速成為收音機(jī)、留聲機(jī)等新的高科技產(chǎn)品外殼的首選材料，把它們從家具產(chǎn)品轉(zhuǎn)變成了現(xiàn)代的標(biāo)志。事實(shí)上，幾十年后，法國(guó)文化評(píng)論家羅蘭•巴特(Roland Barthes)稱贊了塑料的神奇品質(zhì)，稱之為“點(diǎn)金術(shù)材料”。

But it was in the years after 1945 that plastics met high culture and coincided with the democratic ideals underpinning the “good design for everyone” movement. The most progressive implementation of that ideal took place in Italy, where such mundane products as lemon squeezers and waste bins suddenly aspired to the status of art objects, so sleek were their sculptural forms and so vibrant their colours. Working with the designer Gino Colombini, the company Kartell was at the forefront of the campaign, while plastics manufacturing techniques were soon enhanced to make it possible to create the all-plastic chair. Colourful examples were created by Italian designers Cesare “Joe” Colombo, Vico Magistretti and others. Stylish additions to both the interior and exterior landscapes, they sat like jewels in chic, modern living rooms and outside fashionable cafés.

但在1945年之后的歲月里，塑料邂逅了高雅文化，并與支撐“好設(shè)計(jì)為人人”運(yùn)動(dòng)的民主理想相契合。踐行這種理念的前沿是在意大利，在那里，檸檬榨汁機(jī)、垃圾桶這樣的普通產(chǎn)品突然獲得藝術(shù)品那樣的地位，其雕塑般的線條如此圓滑，色彩如此鮮艷。與設(shè)計(jì)師吉諾•科隆比尼(Gino Colombini)合作，Kartell公司走在了這一運(yùn)動(dòng)的最前沿，而塑料制造技術(shù)很快得到了提升，使制造全塑料椅子成為可能。意大利設(shè)計(jì)師喬•科隆博(Joe Colombo)、維科•馬吉斯特蒂(Vico Magistretti)等人設(shè)計(jì)制作了各種各樣的彩色椅子。這些時(shí)髦的椅子為室內(nèi)裝飾和戶外景觀都增添了風(fēng)采，它們像珠寶一樣被放在時(shí)髦、現(xiàn)代的客廳或者時(shí)尚的咖啡館外。

And then it all went wrong. The oil crisis of the early 1970s meant that while plastics were still cheerful, they were no longer cheap. The environmental movement gained traction at the same time and plastics’ cost, combined with the problem of their disposal, stripped them of their democratising potential and their links to the utopian concept of modern design. All was not lost, however, as a handful of innovative designs showed that plastics could be recycled and still form the basis for equally beautiful objects.

但隨后，一切都變了。上世紀(jì)70年代初爆發(fā)的石油危機(jī)意味著，雖然塑料制品仍受到歡迎，但它們已不再廉價(jià)。與此同時(shí)，環(huán)保運(yùn)動(dòng)獲得了動(dòng)力，而塑料制品的成本加上它們的處置問題，剝奪了它們的大眾化潛力以及與現(xiàn)代設(shè)計(jì)烏托邦理念的關(guān)聯(lián)。然而，局面并非一團(tuán)糟，一些創(chuàng)新設(shè)計(jì)表明塑料制品可以被回收利用，構(gòu)成同樣美麗的物品的基礎(chǔ)。

Fast forward to the present and the EU’s commitment to making all plastics recyclable. Perhaps it should be less about hating plastics and more about making them work for us. No one would want to challenge the current concern for the detrimental effects of plastics on the environment. Perhaps, though, taking note of how easily yesterday’s friend can become today and tomorrow’s enemy, we should focus less on the negative, become more inventive and look to our designers to reimagine the possibilities of recycled plastics. They have done it before.

快進(jìn)到現(xiàn)在以及歐盟規(guī)定所有塑料制品都必須可回收利用的承諾?；蛟S，關(guān)鍵不應(yīng)是痛恨塑料，而應(yīng)更多地思考讓它們發(fā)揮正確的作用。沒人想挑戰(zhàn)當(dāng)下有關(guān)塑料對(duì)環(huán)境有害影響的擔(dān)憂。然而，想一想昨天的朋友是多么容易變成今天和明天的敵人，或許我們應(yīng)該少關(guān)注消極一面，而應(yīng)該變得更具創(chuàng)造力，期待我們的設(shè)計(jì)師重新構(gòu)想再生塑料的可能性。他們?cè)?jīng)這樣做過。

The writer is professor of design history at Kingston University and the author of ‘The Plastics Age’

本文作者是金斯敦大學(xué)(Kingston University)設(shè)計(jì)史教授，著有《塑料時(shí)代》(The Plastics Age)