Polymers, with their versatile properties, have become indispensable in modern life. Their economic success was fueled by access to cheap energy for polymer synthesis and to fossil feedstocks, resulting in a continuous growth in polymer production and use over the past decades. However, this surge in polymer usage has revealed inherent sustainability challenges across the entire polymer lifecycle, such as the depletion of resources, the increasing costs and carbon burdens for energy, and the chemical footprint associated with polymer synthesis. The largely linear economy of polymers with low reuse and recycling rates leads to undesirable end of life treatments such as landfilling and incineration and results in the release of polymers to the environment.

Moving towards sustainable polymer use will require innovation and solutions across all polymer life stages. Overcoming environmental polymer pollution as one aspect of sustainability of these materials includes the engineering of barriers to minimize the release of polymers into the environment as well as the redesign of specific polymers to become environmentally benign and non-persistent. While the current debate in the scientific community and in the public centers on structural polymers (and plastics composed thereof), we will discuss above aspects also for water-soluble and water-dispersible polymers which have received little attention despite their high usage in cosmetics, detergents, and agricultural formulations.

In this seminar talk, we aim to present thoughts and considerations that motivated us to propose the founding of the «Zurich Center of Environmental Polymer Science (ZCEPS)». ETH Zurich and Eawag will jointly host the center, which aims at pioneering innovative solutions for sustainable polymer use through research, education, science translation, and outreach. For projects conceptualized and run in ZCEPS, the founding institutions with their research groups will provide expertise in key areas, including polymer science, environmental and material engineering and environmental organic chemistry. The ZCEPS aims to educate future leaders, bridge the gap between research and practical application, partner with industry in research projects, offer expert guidance, and stimulate a societal dialogue on sustainable polymer use.