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Plastics There and back again 塑料 旧法新用 An old idea may help solve the problem of plastic waste 一个老方法也许可以帮助解决塑料垃圾的问题 PLASTICS were once regarded as wonder-materials. They are still ubiquitous, but find lessfavour than they used to because of the very stability and persistence that won themplaudits in the first place. Persistence is not a quality to be desired in something that getsthrown away, and so much plastic is used in packaging, and in articles that are disposable,that many people now see conventional petrochemical plastics as a nuisance and a threat. 塑料曾一度被认为是材料中的奇迹。如今，塑料仍然无处不在，但是正是由于起初为它们赢得掌声的稳定和持久性，使得它们不再拥有当初的追捧。对于一些会被丢弃的物品来说，持久性并不是一种值得拥有的性质，而且塑料被大量使用在包装袋以及一次性物品中。目前，常规石油化工塑料已经被看做是一种公害和威胁。 The search is on, then, for biodegradable alternatives. One possibility has recently beenexplored by David Schiraldi of Case Western Reserve University, in Ohio, and his colleagues.They propose to reach back into history and revive the use of a feedstock that was used tomake some of the first plastics invented: milk. | 
