Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report - Fourth Edition Appleyard Lees - 1
The fourth annual edition of the Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report** from the leading intellectual property firm reveals that overall new patent filings for bioplastics worldwide exceeded 600 for the first time in 2022 – with an increase of more than 10% on the previous year.
And, since 2021, bioplastics created with Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) – made from sugars grown from algae – have shown the sharpest increase (58%) in global priority patent activity, overtaking butylene-based polymers into second place overall behind perennial leader polylactic acid (PLA).
In this context, the latest data also shows a surprising fall of almost a quarter (23%) in the quantity of international patent filings which protect an innovation across multiple countries, perhaps reflective of a difficult economic climate.
Meanwhile, annual patent filings in chemical plastic recycling have risen by more than 25% to approach 700 new filings for the first time in 2022 – a figure that’s increased by over 350% on five years before.
Appleyard Lees’ Chris Mason, Partner, said: “The global high for bioplastic patent filing, despite a difficult economic climate, reflects the level of demand for this potential solution to the ‘plastics problem’. Innovators are also responding to the criticism that bioplastics that break down only under industrial composting conditions are not suitable for addressing plastic pollution in the natural environment, seeking to find bioplastics with the right combination of biodegradability and mechanical properties.
“And we expect the increasing trend for innovation in chemical recycling technologies to continue, given growing pressure on manufacturers to embrace a sustainable, circular plastic economy and the need to close the gap between the amount of plastic waste produced and recycled.”
An innovation shift in bioplastic types
The 58% growth (2021-22) in patent applications for PHAs reflects their potential to biodegrade in the natural environment without composting, along with providing commercially-viable physical properties and creation from renewable sources.
This contrasts with Polylactic acid (PLA)-based bioplastics which demand recycling or industrial composting and butylene-based polymers that are typically derived from petrochemicals.
Territory-wise, multiple countries are fuelling the bioplastic filing numbers with significant activity from South Korea – likely because of government targets for reducing plastic waste – followed by Europe, Japan, India, China and Brazil.
Prolific patent bioplastic filings among particular companies include Brazilian startup, Bioreset Biotechologia, followed by South Korea’s LG Chemical group and CJ Cheiljedang – each focusing mainly on PHAs, including improvements to mechanical properties, methods of production from industrial and agricultural waste and applications in non-woven fabric production.
Amelia Barton, Patent Attorney, commented: “Among chemical recycling technologies, pyrolysis continues to claim the bulk of patent filings – increasing by almost one-third (32%) in the year to 2022 and a more than six-fold increase on five years earlier. And while there has been comparatively lower patent activity in technologies involving metal-catalysed depolymerisation and supercritical water, both have shown significant recent increases (28% and 20% respectively), with metal-catalysed depolymerisation in particular recording a fourth-straight year of 20%-plus growth. Meanwhile, innovation in microbial biodegradation has also increased, with filings relating to micro-organisms able to degrade plastics, for example.”
While Europe and the US have traditionally led the field in innovation for chemical plastic recycling, South Korea has now overtaken the latter – more than trebling its patent filings from 2020-2022.
In terms of plastic type, while long-time leader polypropylene (PP) has shown growth in 2022, the largest momentum is currently around recycling polyvinyl chloride (PVC), followed by polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PP is currently relegated to third spot, albeit still some way ahead of the next most common materials low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE).
David Jasiewicz, Associate at Appleyard Lees, added: “While the innovation focus is shifting from PLA and butylene-based polymers to PHAs, we expect that all three bioplastic types will continue to attract significant research efforts and a significant number of patent applications in the future.
“And we believe the number of companies innovating in chemical plastic recycling – driven by political and societal pressure plus government initiatives – is set to continue.”
The Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition’s focus on bioplastics and plastics recycling was chosen because of its prominence in the global green innovation conversation, as referenced in the OECD’s and United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Green Innovation Database, a global innovation catalogue that connects needs for solving environmental or climate change problems with sustainable solutions.
*Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition, examines patent filing data through 31 Dec 2022, the latest date complete filing data is available from public sources.
**Appleyard Lees’ Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition is available to read here.