Tens of millions of tonnes of waste plastic will be recycled into steel thanks to breakthrough University of New South Wales “green” steel technology which cuts coke and coal demand and reduces emissions.

得益于新南威尔士大学的突破性的“绿色”钢铁技术，数千万公吨的废弃塑料将被循环再造成钢铁，从而降低煤炭的用量以及减少热能的消耗。

Commercial production of the world first “green” steel is underway at the Sydney furnaces of Onesteel, following a global licensing agreement between the Australian steelmaker and the University of New South Wales’ commerialisation arm, NewSouth Innovations (Nsi).

紧随澳大利亚钢铁业制造商和新南创新——新南威尔士大学的商业化部门达成的全球专利使用转让协定，世界上第一个“绿色”商品钢铁的生产在悉尼“一铁”锅炉里开始了。

Invented by Indian-born UNSW materials scientist, Professor Veena Sahajwalla, the technology currently substitutes about 30 per cent of coke and coal in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking with polyethylene waste plastic, which would otherwise have ended up in landfill. An even higher percentage of waste plastic is envisaged in future, with a 50 per cent plastic mix now under trial at UNSW labs.

由UNSW（新南威尔士大学）的一位印度出生的材料学家——维娜·沙哈瓦拉发明的这项技术，可以通过使用那些原本将要堆在垃圾堆里的废弃聚乙烯塑料，从而节约电弧炉炼钢生产的大约30%煤炭消耗 。展望未来，一个更高比例的废旧塑料利用可能时间——眼下，含量达50%的塑料混合料正在新南威尔士大学的实验室里中进行试验。

Equally significant is the reduction in the power required to run the furnaces using the new waste plastic injection technology. The process promises significant environmental benefits in one of the world’s most essential, but energy and resource intensive, industries.

它的重大意义就是通过使用新的废弃塑料注入工艺来减少炼钢炉运转需要的能量。这种生产方法保障了世界上最基本的同时也是能源资源高度密集行业的重要环保效益。

Polyethylene plastic is an element in shopping bags, soft packaging and some drink containers. It contains carbon, an essential raw material in EAF steelmaking, which recycles steel from scrap metal and accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s steel production. Annual steel production is around 1.1 billion tonnes globally.

聚乙烯塑胶是购物袋、软包装还有一些饮品容器的主要成分。它含有碳，而这是电弧炉炼钢生产过程中，把钢从铁料里提纯出来的主要原材料，占去了大约40%的世界钢铁生产原料消耗。全球每年的钢铁产量大概是11亿公吨。

Total savings include lower power bills and a commensurate drop in green house gas emissions from coal-fired power stations, net savings on coke and coal usage and a longer electrode life span. Both industry and the environment will be big winners if the world’s 300 EAF steelmakers embrace the technology.

这项技术带来的节约包括：更低的能源账单、减少等同于一个火力发电站的温室气体排放量、煤炭使用量的直接减少和更长的电极使用寿命。如果全世界的300家电弧炉炼钢生产厂家都引进这项技术，无论对于行业本身还是环境来说都是双赢的。

"Plastic is simply another form of carbon," says Professor Sahajwalla. "In making steel there's essentially no difference between the polyethylene plastic in shopping bags…and a natural resource like coal."

“塑料简单来说就是另一种形式的碳。”沙哈瓦拉教授说。“在生产钢铁中所使用的碳几乎和那些购物袋里的聚乙烯塑料没有差别。。。和煤一样是一种自然资源。

Getting industry to take up “good science” is a key driver behind Sahajwalla’s work. “I am passionate about creating concepts and solutions which might sound radical…. but could provide a foundation for developing novel pathways into the future.”

使工业开始从事“有益科学”是沙哈瓦拉工作背后的主要动力。“我热衷于创造那些听起来挺激进的概念和方法……但它们可以为未来发展崭新的路提供一个基础。”

Professor Sahajwalla won the 2005 Eureka Prize for scientific research and the 2004 Fresh Innovator Award. In 2006, she received the Environmental Technology Award from the USA Association of Iron & Steel Technology. She has strong existing research, funding and advisory collaborations in Asia, Europe and the United States. Her work is supported by an Australian Research Council grant.

沙哈瓦拉教授获得了2005年的“尤利卡”科学研究奖和2004年的“最新改革者”奖。在2006年，她被美国钢铁工艺协会授予“环境技术”奖。她在亚洲、欧洲和美国还有强大的现有研究项目、研究资金以及顾问合作。她的研究工作由一个澳大利亚的科研补助金委员会支持。