Since the 1950s, the manufacturing of plastics has grown exponentially because of its variety of uses, such as food packaging, consumer products, medical devices, and construction. While there are significant benefits, the negative implications associated with increased production of plastics are concerning. Plastic products do not readily break down, are difficult to dispose of, and only about 9% of plastics are recycled[1]. Effects can be seen by the approximately 4-12 million tons of plastic waste that enter the oceans each year[1,2]. Plastic waste has severe environmental consequences and it is predicted that if our current trends continue, the oceans will be filled with more plastic than fish by 2050[2]. The effect on marine life has been studied[3], but the effects on human health are not yet completely understood[4]. The rise of single-use and disposable plastic products results in entire industries dedicated to creating plastic waste. It also suggests that the amount of time the product is useful is significantly shorter than the time it takes to properly mitigate the plastic waste. Consequently, to solve the plastic waste problem, we need to slow down the flow of plastic production and improve how we manage plastic waste.
自20世纪50年代以来，塑料的生产由于其用途的多样化而呈指数级增长，如食品包装、消费品、医疗器械和建筑。虽然有显著的好处，但塑料产量增加所带来的相关负面影响也同样令人担忧。塑料制品不易分解，很难处理，只有大约9%的塑料被回收。每年大约有400万到1200万吨的塑料垃圾进入海洋，由此可见其影响。塑料垃圾对环境造成了严重的后果，据预测，如果我们继续维持目前的状态，到2050年，海洋中塑料垃圾的数量将超过鱼类。人们已经研究了它对海洋生物的影响，但对人类健康的影响还没有完全弄清楚。一次性和无法循环使用的塑料产品的兴起导致整个行业都致力于制造塑料垃圾。它还表明，产品的使用时间远远短于减少塑料垃圾所需的时间。因此，为了解决塑料垃圾问题，我们需要减缓塑料生产的速度，并改善我们对塑料垃圾的管理。
Your team has been hired by the International Council of Plastic Waste Management (ICM) to address this escalating environmental crisis. You must develop a plan to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, single-use and disposable plastic product waste.
您的团队已被国际塑料废物管理委员会(ICM)聘请，以解决这一不断升级的环境危机。你必须制定一个计划来显著减少(如果不能消除)一次性和无法循环使用的塑料产品垃圾。
Develop a model to estimate the maximum levels of single-use or disposable plastic product waste that can safely be mitigated without further environmental damage. You may need to consider, among many factors, the source of this waste, the extent of the current waste problem, and the availability of resources to process the waste.
建立一个模型来估计一次性或一次性塑料产品废物的最大水平，这些废物可以在不进一步破坏环境的情况下安全地减少。
在众多因素中，你可能需要考虑这些废物的来源、当前废物问题的严重程度以及处理这些废物的资源的可用性。
Discuss to what extent plastic waste can be reduced to reach an environmentally safe level. This may involve considering factors impacting the levels of plastic waste to include, but not limited to, sources and uses of single-use or disposable plastics, the availability of alternatives to plastics, the impact on the lives of citizens, or policies of cities, regions, countries, and continents to decrease single-use or disposable plastic and the effectiveness of such policies. These can vary between regions, so considering regional-specific constraints may make some policies more effective than others.
讨论塑料垃圾可以减少到何种程度，以达到环境安全水平。这可能涉及到考虑因素影响塑料垃圾的水平包括但不限于或一次性塑料的来源和用途替代塑料的可能性和减少一次性或一次性塑料对居民的生活或城市地区国家和大洲的政策影响和这些政策的有效性。这些可能因地区而异，因此考虑区域特定的约束可能使某些政策比其他政策更有效。
Using your model and discussion, set a target for the minimal achievable level of global waste of single-use or disposable plastic products and discuss the impacts for achieving such levels. You may consider ways in which human life is altered, the environmental impacts, or the effects on the multi-trillion-dollar plastic industry.
利用你的模型和讨论，为一次性或一次性塑料产品的全球废物可达到的最低水平设定一个目标，并讨论达到这一水平的影响。你可以考虑人类生活被改变，对环境的影响，或者对数万亿美元的塑料工业的影响。
While this is a global problem, the causes and effects are not equally distributed across nations or regions. Discuss the equity issues that arise from the global crisis and your intended solutions. How do you suggest ICM address these issues?
尽管这是一个全球性问题，但其原因和影响在不同国家或地区并不平等。讨论全球危机中出现的公平问题和你的解决方案。你建议 ICM如何解决这些问题
Write a two-page memo to the ICM describing a realistic global target minimum achievable level of global single-use or disposable plastic product waste, a timeline to reach this level, and any circumstances that may accelerate or hinder the achievement of your target and timeline.
给ICM写一份两页纸的备忘录，描述一个现实的全球目标，即一次性或一次性塑料产品废弃物的最低可实现水平，并给出达到这个水平的时间表，以及任何可能加速或阻碍你的目标和时间表的实现的情况。
