Detailed knowledge about polymer flows through the anthroposphere and into the environment is information essential to the better management of plastics. Currently, only limited knowledge about specific polymer flows is available. This work aimed to model those flows for five polymers: polyurethane (PUR), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyamide (PA), polycarbonate (PC) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Probabilistic material flow analysis (PMFA) was used to quantify flows from production in 45 product categories to their end-of-life in Europe and Switzerland. We then considered 40 release pathways for macro- and microplastic flows to assess polymer release into Switzerland's environment. PMFA results showed considerable variations between the polymers considered because their flows through the anthroposphere are determined by their different uses. Total macro- and microplastic emissions into Switzerland's environment in 2018 were estimated at masses of 208±76 t for PA, 179±98 t for PUR, 79±26 t for PC, 36±23 t for PMMA and 25±6 t for ABS. Relative to Switzerland's total production and imports, this amounted to total releases of 0.23% of PA, 0.07% of PUR, 0.16% of PC, 0.32% of PMMA and 0.14% of ABS. Contributions as released microplastics ranged from 18% of PMMA to 75% of ABS. These results showed that the amounts of the polymers considered released into the environment were much smaller than previously assumed in simpler release estimates, and they may be more realistic for countries with well-functioning waste treatment systems.

有关聚合物流经人类圈并进入环境的详细知识是更好地管理塑料的必要信息。目前，关于特定聚合物流动的知识有限。这项工作旨在模拟五种聚合物的流动：聚氨酯 (PUR)、丙烯腈丁二烯苯乙烯 (ABS)、聚酰胺 (PA)、聚碳酸酯 (PC) 和聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯 (PMMA)。概率材料流分析 (PMFA) 用于量化从 45 种产品类别的生产到其在欧洲和瑞士报废的流量。然后，我们考虑了宏观和微塑料流动的 40 条释放途径，以评估聚合物释放到瑞士环境中的情况。PMFA 结果显示所考虑的聚合物之间存在相当大的差异，因为它们通过人类圈的流量取决于它们的不同用途。2018 年，瑞士环境中的宏观和微塑料排放总量估计为：PA 208±76 吨、PUR 179±98 吨、PC 79±26 吨、PMMA 36±23 吨和 ABS 25±6 吨. 相对于瑞士的总产量和进口量，这相当于 PA 的 0.23%、PUR 的 0.07%、PC 的 0.16%、PMMA 的 0.32% 和 ABS 的 0.14%。释放的微塑料的贡献范围从 PMMA 的 18% 到 ABS 的 75%。这些结果表明，被认为释放到环境中的聚合物的数量比之前在更简单的释放估计中假设的要少得多，