Plastic pollution is a major global problem affecting both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems as well as impacting human health. Nevertheless, plastic is an extremely versatile material with beneficial properties and the use of plastic has become ubiquitous in modern life. Efforts to reduce the use of plastics, particularly single use plastics, is an important step in addressing plastic pollution. However, this alone will not solve the problem. There is therefore a need to improve current recycling practices and develop plastic alternatives and it is here that innovators can play a role.

In 2021, the European Patent Office (EPO) released a study investigating trends in plastic recycling and alternative plastics technologies. The report draws on the latest patent information available (particularly using patent filing data from 2010 to 2019) as well as the expertise of EPO Examiners to provide an analysis of the ways in which innovators are driving the transition towards a circular economy for plastics. In view of the global importance of the development of green technologies, Appleyard Lees (AL) has also recently produced its inaugural Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report 2021, which investigates patent trends in bioplastics and plastic recycling, as well as other green technologies including renewable energy storage and food production. The AL report reviews the impact of industrial activities on the environment and highlights how development of, and investment in, innovation can be used to tackle these serious problems. Here, we discuss the findings of these two reports.

The AL report indicates that priority filings in the recycling field are on the rise, with a strong upward trend starting in the 1990s and remaining relatively high. The EPO report identifies the US and Europe as the main global innovators in the field of recycling methods. This is in line with the findings of the AL report which highlights Eastman Chemical Co. as the largest filer in this field over recent years.

From 2010 to 2019, chemical and biological recycling generated the highest level of patenting activities in comparison to more traditional mechanical recycling technologies. Interestingly, the EPO report highlights that chemical and biological recycling methods rely more on upstream fundamental research in comparison to traditional technologies, with nearly 20% of international patent families (IPFs) originating from universities and public research organisations. However, the report highlights that Europe may not be exploiting its full potential in transferring this technology to industry, in contrast to the US where start-ups and scale-ups generate a large number of IPFs. This suggests that perhaps there is a lack of funding or incentive in Europe to move from early-stage research to industry and highlights an important issue for public policy and government.

The EPO report also emphasises the continued growth of innovation in bioplastics, such as chemically modified natural polymers (for example, modified cellulose) and new emerging technologies such as polymers from biologically-sourced monomers. Although such polymers are not biodegradable, they allow for a reduced consumption of non-renewable resources and carbon dioxide emissions at the production stage.

The AL report agrees with this finding for bioplastics, with evidence of high patent filing growth since 1990.  Interestingly, the AL report finds that the patent filings numbers relating to chemical recycling of plastics and bioplastics show similar trends, with dips in volume between 2010 and 2015 followed by upward trends to the present day. The dips may reflect the impact of budget tightening following the recession of 2007-2009.  It could be that new plastic recycling and bioplastic technology were considered to be of secondary interest to the established core interests of the companies at the time and as such fell victim to new budget restraints for a period.  Around the time of the recession, the AL report also notes that the nationality of the applicants changed, with applicants from Japan making way for higher filing numbers from applicants in South Korea, Europe and the US.

The EPO report also features some recent innovations in the industry, including a case study of a new class of polymers termed “vitrimers”. Vitrimers are a type of covalent adaptable network (CAN) based on a polymer network that can shuffle chemical bonds through an exchange reaction. Some vitrimers are intrinsically self-healing which could potentially reduce the waste associated with damaged plastic products. The case study demonstrates the importance of industry-backing to facilitate commercialisation of technologies in this field. For example, NASA-funded research has found that the use of vitrimers could allow for the construction of larger and more complex structures. Without this industry-backing, this important application would not have been realised. A further EU-funded project aims to combine the expertise and technologies of various academic, technical and industrial partners to bridge the training gap between research and commercial production, which will facilitate vitrimer technology reaching beyond the confines of the laboratory.

The EPO and AL reports offer key insights into a range of promising new technologies which may help to address the plastics problem. However, the surprising low level of start-ups and scale-ups filing applications in Europe, as compared to the US, perhaps indicates that change must be initiated by government and policy in providing funding opportunities and incentives in this important area.

Appleyard Lees’ report on green innovation can be found here: Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report 2021 – Appleyard Lees.

The EPO study can be found here: EPO – New EPO study: Europe and US are leading innovation in plastic recycling and alternative plastics globally, patent data shows.