Background

An estimated 80% of the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics produced globally since the 1950s has ended up in landfills or escaped into the environment.

This comes at the detriment of the global ecosystem which is bearing the long-term consequences of the non-biodegradable nature of most plastics.

Since 2015, the UN has been looking to directly tackle the issue by setting out Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These promote responsible consumption and production patterns, as well as improve living conditions on land and below water.

Our ambition is to provide an objective perspective of the global leaders and innovators contributing to accomplishing the SDGs, through the utilisation of published patent data.

About this report

Cipher's unique Universal Technology Taxonomy scanned patent data to reveal the patent owners of critical technologies spearheading sustainable plastics.

The results enabled us provide our view of the leading innovators to watch based on recently-published inventions. We also applied overall weightings to enabling technologies.

The technology areas covered in our report include:

  • Biodegradable polymers
  • Bio-based polymers
  • Sustainable Adhesives.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.