McDonald’s and Starbucks. Yum brands. Nestlé. Coca-Cola. Wendy’s.

　　麦当劳和星巴克、百胜餐饮集团、雀巢、可口可乐、温迪。

　　They’re some of the most powerful food and beverage companies in the world, and they’re all throwing their weight behind a collective effort to tackle a big problem:

　　他们是世界上最强大的食品和饮料公司，都在共同努力解决一个大问题：

　　the 250 billion fiber cups that pile up in landfills each year, most of which will need 1,000 years to biodegrade since they’re actually coated in a micro layer of polyethylene.

　　每年有2500亿个纤维纸杯被送到垃圾填埋场，其中大部分需要1000年才能生物降解，因为它们实际上覆盖了一层聚乙烯微型膜。

　　The goal? To create the ultimate disposable paper cup–one that can both be composted and recycled, anywhere in the world.

　　他们的目标?创造出一种终极的方便纸杯——既可以回收也可以做成堆肥，而且可以在世界上的任何地方这么干。

　　We covered the project, called the Next Gen Cup Challenge, when it was announced last July.

　　去年7月，当这个名为“下一代杯挑战赛”的项目宣告启动的时候，我们报道过它。

　　All of the shortlisted technologies take one of three basic approaches.

　　所有入围的技术都采用三种基本方法中的一种。

　　A few propose replacements to the aforementioned polyethylene liner in paper cups. While polyethylene keeps paper waterproof, insulates a drink to keep it hot or cold, and can prevent sweaty condensation from building outside the cup, it’s also the primary component that keeps most paper cups from being recycled or composted.

　　第一批人建议更换掉上述纸杯里的聚乙烯内衬。聚乙烯可以防水、隔热、保温，还可以防止水珠凝结在杯子外面，但它也是防止大多数纸杯被回收或制成肥料的主要成分。

　　A second group of finalists proposes radical new paper composites that need no liner at all, allowing them to biodegrade or be recycled easily.

　　第二类的决赛者提出了根本不需要衬垫的新型纸复合材料，这让它们能被生物降解或者轻松回收。

　　And a third category proposes another direction entirely: reusable cups that can be collected after being used, through either a subscription or scout’s honor system at your local Starbucks.

　　第三类则完全提出了另一个方向：可重复使用的杯子，在使用后可以通过订阅会员的体系或当地星巴克的童子军荣誉系统来收集。

　　Over the next few months the finalists will find out if their cups can be made by the traditional cup supply chain, by working directly with factories that partner with companies like McDonald’s to produce their current cups.

　　在接下来的几个月里，决赛者们将会直接与那些为麦当劳等公司生产杯子的工厂合作，来看他们设计的杯子是否可以通过传统的杯子供应链来制作。

　　This is crucial; their designs need to be able to scale within the current manufacturing infrastructure rather than requiring completely bespoke production methods.

　　这是至关重要的;他们的设计需要能够用当前的制造业基础设施生产，而不是要求完全定制生产方法。