EU and US lead in plastic recycling tech: report
A new study from the European Patent Office (EPO) shows that Europe and the US are leading the pack in plastic recycling technologies, with both regions each generating 30% of international patent families (IPF) worldwide.
The “Patents for tomorrow’s plastics: Global innovation trends in recycling, circular design and alternative sources” study published today analyses trends in IPF filings to reveal the leading countries and companies in plastics technology.
IPFs are classed as inventions with patent applications filed in at least two or more countries or regional patent offices.
According to the EPO, analysing IPFs can be “used as a sound basis for comparing international innovation activities. As patent applications are filed many months, or even years, before products appear on the market, they are often seen as an early indicator of future technology trends”.
Recycling leaders
Between 2010 and 2019, Europe and the US were the largest patent filers for plastic recycling and bioplastic technology, accounting for a combined 60% of all IPFs in the field according to the study.
EPO president António Campinos said: “While plastics are essential to the economy, plastic pollution is threatening ecosystems all over the planet. The good news is that innovation can help us to address this challenge by enabling the transition to a fully circular model.
“This study offers key insights into a range of promising new technologies that foster the reusability, recyclability, and bio-degradability of plastic products. It highlights Europe’s contribution to innovation in this sector, but shows that much more can be done to turn pioneering European research into inventions and to bring them to market.”
The cosmetics and detergents industries hold the most bioplastic IPFs worldwide, with Procter & Gamble filing close to 850 IPFs in the field between 2010 and 2019. L’Oreal filed the second most with under 550, with Henkel and Unilever coming in at third and fourth respectively.
Start-up gap between US and Europe
The study also shows that more than 20% of inventions in chemical and biological recycling stem from universities and other public research organisations.
From this 20%, Europe and the US institutions represent the majority, accounting for more than 29% of the patent families stemming from research institutions in these regions.
However, the US boasts four times more start-ups and scale-ups with patent families in chemical and biological recycling.
According to the EPO, this suggests that Europe, despite being active in fundamental research, is not exploiting the potential of transferring the technology to industry.
The full report can be found here.
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