The use of plastics, especially PET, used for food packaging has recently increased dramatically due to the increase in food delivery and online shopping caused by COVID-19. Most of the waste resulting from the use of plastics was exported to China, but the Chinese government imposed a ban on the import of waste plastics as environmental pollution in the country worsened. In Korea, this year, introduced the so-called 'Bottle to Bottle ('B to B') recycling method, which washes - shreds PET bottles and recycle - reuse as food containers to reduce overflowing plastic waste. Since the introduction, a lot of efforts and technology development to recycle PET are rapidly progressing.
In this issue, among PET mechanical recycling technologies, we’d like to check the direction and current position of PET mechanical recycling technology by analyzing the overall flow of patent trends for technologies to remove contaminants to improve the quality of PET recycling and to improve the physical properties of PET recycling.
◎ Application trends by year and country
▲ Patent activity by application year
▲ Patent Application Trends in Major
Market Countries by Year Section
Looking at the
patent activity according to the filing year, it peaked from 1999 to 2000, but
showed a decreasing trend thereafter, and repeated the increase and decrease in
the 2010s, and a sharp increase trend is observed after 2018. In addition, from
before the 1990s (section 1), patent applications were started mainly in Japan,
the United States, and Europe, and, there was a decreasing trend after reaching
the peak of patent applications from 1996 to 2000 (section 3), but from 2010s (after
section 4) the number of applications in China, Korea, and the United States is
increasing to the present.
◎ Application Trends by All Applicants
▲ Patent Application Status of Major
Applicants by Major Market Countries
▲ Patent Application Share by Applicant
Nationality
The applicant
with the largest number of applications is SKC, and URRC (US), ILLINOIS TOOL
WORKS (US), KRONES AG (DE), and PHOENIX TECHNOLOGIES (US) are mainly listed in
the order of PET recycling manufacturers. As a result of examining the status
of patent applications by applicant's nationality, applicants of US (US)
nationality applied for the most patents, followed by Korea (KR), Japan (JP),
China (CN), and Germany (DE).
◎ Pollutant removal technology application trend
▲ Patent status for methods and specific
means for removing pollutants from waste PET
Looking at the current status of contaminant removal methods, the patents with characteristics of melt extrusion and washing showed the largest number of patents with 26 respectively, followed by others, solid-state polymerization, and dry-pulverization.
◎ PET recycling property improvement technology application trend
▲ Patent status for improved properties
and specific means of PET recycling
Looking at
the contents of the improvement of PET recycling properties, 38 patents on
intrinsic viscosity improvement showed the largest number of patents, followed
by color, others, and clumping ratio.
In order to reduce
the overflowing plastic waste, the so-called 'Bottle to Bottle ('B to B')’
recycling method, in which PET bottles used in food containers are washed and
shredded, and recycled back into food containers, will be recycled starting
this year in Korea.
The notice of the Ministry of Environment contains facility standards for related companies and quality standards for recycled materials for ‘B to B’ recycling. The existing PET bottle recycling was a method of collecting discarded PET bottles and making low-value-added raw materials such as non-woven fabrics, stuffed cotton, and cushioning materials. However, if these recycled products are thrown away, further recycling is impossible, so they are incinerated or landfilled as waste. It has been criticized for being recyclable but not sustainable.
Therefore, basic data such as the recent development status of mechanical recycling technology, which accounts for a large portion of PET recycling, and cost analysis for each application target, are closely required. In addition, it is judged that active technology development and policy support are necessary to improve the quality of PET recycling.
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※ References
- Green New Deal Planning, When will the PET bottle recycling market be stabilized (2020, environmental focus)
- Recycled plastic
has a 'class' (2021, E-daily)
※ Report by Jaewon Moon, jwmoon@wips.co.kr
IP Planning team l
Team Manager
Majored in chemistry (nano material synthesis), has been conducting patent research
and analysis for 8 years, and is currently in charge of contents and product
planning using IP information.
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