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Plastics Recycling Patent Classification

Mechanical recycling classifies along the process chain: B29B covers the pretreatment of plastics, shredding, sorting, agglomerating, before reshaping.

Chemical recovery of polymers, depolymerisation and solvent processes, sits in C08J for working-up macromolecular substances. The waste-management layer around it classifies in B09B for solid-waste disposal.

The classification codes that matter

B29B 135,785 filings 2013–2023

PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS;…

Plastics pretreatment: shredding, sorting and preparing recyclate for reuse.

2018 → 2023: 11,961 → 18,579 filings (+55 %)

C08J 263,834 filings 2013–2023

WORKING-UP; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES ,…

Polymer working-up: chemical recycling and recovery of macromolecular material.

2018 → 2023: 25,871 → 23,653 filings (-9 %)

B09B 69,632 filings 2013–2023

DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

Solid-waste disposal: the waste-management processes around material recovery.

2018 → 2023: 5,387 → 8,905 filings (+65 %)

Who files here: top applicants

  1. 1 LG CHEM (KR) 15,677
  2. 2 DOW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES (US) 12,486
  3. 3 BASF (BADISCHE ANILIN & SODA FABRIK) (DE) 11,328
  4. 4 SINOPEC (CHINA PETROCHEMICAL CORPORATION) 8,080
  5. 5 CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 7,769

IPC filings 2013–2023, aggregated across the codes above. Source: EPO PATSTAT.

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