A new report from an intellectual property firm cited government initiatives among factors driving developments in chemical recycling technologies. | Nitpicker / Shutterstock

Key takeaways

  • Growth rate for patent filings slowing despite overall rise
  • Government action helps to stimulate innovation
  • Research institutions rising in number of patent filings
  • Number of new filers is growing

Patent applications for chemical recycling technologies have reached a record high globally with government initiatives among the factors driving innovation, according to recent analysis from intellectual property firm Appleyard Lees.

In the most recent available data, 2023 filings were at 794, an increase of 6% on the year but more than double the 2019 number of 368, Appleyard Lees notes in its fifth annual edition of “Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report.”

Despite the all-time high in applications, the firm noted that the growth rate had slowed. Patent attorney Amelia Foster of Appleyard Lees said the overall trend would likely continue upward, amid growing pressure on manufacturers to address sustainability concerns and “to close the gap between the amount of plastic waste produced and recycled.”  

Korea leads; US, Europe slow

South Korea topped the list of countries for the first time since the report began, with 215 filings, higher by more than 20% from 175 in the previous year. The report noted that the country’s filings increased sharply in 2021, the year after its government announced a target of reducing plastic waste by 20% by 2025. 

In addition, Korea will implement new rules for RPET use in beverage bottles in January, with a mandate of 10% recycled resin for larger companies, rising to 30% by 2030 and including smaller companies.

“This appears to be a good example of how government action can stimulate innovation,” the report said.

“The political and societal pressure, along with government initiatives, reinforces the expectation that chemical recycling growth and innovation is set to continue,” Foster added. 

However, the number of new patent applications related to chemical plastic recycling in both the US and Europe declined in 2023 – the first significant decline in several years “and a significant factor in the overall slow down in global filing growth” the report said.

In addition, the top 10 filing entities dropped in the year, even as overall global applications continued to increase, the report showed. This “suggests potential for a continued shift in the top filers list as other companies seek to bring new facilities on line and the large level of innovation that typically goes hand-in-hand with that capital investment.”

The number of organizations with first-time patent filings has more than tripled over five years, the report said. These included research institutions focused on early-stage technology development, such as France’s IFP Energies Nouvelles, as well as global chemical producers.

The presence of research institutions among top filers also reflects the early stage of development where many chemical recycling technologies find themselves, despite large-scale commercialization taking place. 

This shows “the wide range of innovation that is needed to broadly solve the plastic waste problem,” the report said, echoing positions from the US Plastics Pact and other organizations that include chemical recycling among a basket of complementary technologies to address plastics concerns.  

Scott Trenor, technical director at the Association of Plastic Recyclers, said in a statement to Plastics Recycling News, “It’s exciting to see the growth in innovation and patent filings in the recycling space not only in chemical recycling as this report points out, but in add-ons to mechanical recycling such as Lindner’s Flexloop,” a solvent-based method used in addition to mechanical recycling to produce higher quality resin. 

Trenor added that the data indicate the need for new technologies to help recycle packaging waste as well as more complex streams such as automotive, textiles, construction materials plus waste, electronic and electrical equipment.

APR owns Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Plastics Recycling Update. 

BASF jumps to the front; Eastman eases

The data also show that Germany-based BASF overtook US-headquartered Eastman Chemical as the top patent filing company in chemical recycling, as it more than tripled its filings from the 2022 level – at 36 versus 11.

The top entities filing patent applications in 2023 were (in alphabetical order):

In addition, more entities are filing multiple patent applications each year and the number of new entities filing has more than tripled since 2018, which indicates a strong pull for new players, the report said, adding that these trends “are promising signs” for chemical recycling as a whole.

The technologies continued to focus on PP above other common polymers such as PVC and PET, while pyrolysis rose slightly on the year and thermal recycling fell slightly. 

The report also noted that filings for HDPE and LDPE have been consistently lower than for other polymers, but have been increasing yearly.

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