Kelly Caroline Louise
CPI The Coxon Building John Walker Road Sedgefield TS21 3FE UK
Chem Sci. 2023 May 31;14(25):6820-6825. doi: 10.1039/d3sc90086j. eCollection 2023 Jun 28.
Polymers in liquid formulations, or PLFs, are present in many of the products we use, from the shampoo we use to wash our hair, to the paint on the walls, and the lubricants in our car. They provide high functionality in these and a multitude of other applications, delivering many positive benefits to society. They are essential to global markets worth more than $1 trillion and so large quantities of these materials are made and sold each year - 36.3 million metric tonnes, the volume of 14 500 Olympic sized swimming pools! The chemical industry and the wider supply chain therefore have a responsibility to ensure that the way PLFs are made, used and disposed of at their end of life has a minimal effect on the environment. To date this seems to be a 'hidden problem', not receiving the same attention as other polymer related products, such as plastic packaging waste, yet there are clear challenges to address the sustainability concerns for these materials. To ensure that the PLF industry is economically and environmentally sustainable in the future, some key challenges need to be addressed, ensuring that new approaches to PLF production, use and end-of-life treatment are developed and utilised. Collaboration is key here, and with the UK already possessing a wealth of world-leading expertise and capability, there is an opportunity to leverage this in a coherent, focussed way to improve the overall environmental profile of these products.
液体配方中的聚合物，即PLF，存在于我们使用的许多产品中，从我们用来洗头的洗发水，到墙上的油漆，再到汽车里的润滑剂。它们在这些以及众多其他应用中提供了高功能性，为社会带来了许多积极益处。它们对于价值超过1万亿美元的全球市场至关重要，因此每年都会生产和销售大量此类材料——3630万公吨，相当于14500个奥运规模游泳池的水量！因此，化学工业和更广泛的供应链有责任确保PLF的生产、使用和报废处理方式对环境的影响降至最低。迄今为止，这似乎是一个“隐藏的问题”，没有得到与其他聚合物相关产品（如塑料包装废弃物）相同的关注，但要解决这些材料的可持续性问题，显然存在挑战。为确保PLF行业在未来实现经济和环境可持续发展，需要应对一些关键挑战，确保开发并利用PLF生产、使用和报废处理的新方法。合作是关键，英国已经拥有丰富的世界领先专业知识和能力，有机会以连贯、集中的方式利用这些优势，改善这些产品的整体环境状况。
