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The number of South Korean patent applications in biodegradable plastic almost doubled from 97 filed in 2016 to 190 in 2020, as plastic waste emerged as a major social issue in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of such patent applications registered an annual growth rate of 18 percent over the past five years, according to the Korea Intellectual Property Office.
South Korean patent applications increased from 78 in 2016 to 158 in 2020, whereas international patent applications fluctuated within the same period.
Businesses filed the most patents, accounting for 68 percent of all applications, followed by individuals (14%), universities (12%), and research institutes (5%).
LG Chem Ltd. took first place with 24 patent applications, followed by Samyang Group (15), Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (14), Lotte Chemical Corp. (14), KingFa Science & Technology Co. (12), and BASF S.E. with nine.
During the four years from 2016 to 2019, the ester group accounted for 60.3 percent of patent applications (47), followed by the carbonate group (20.5 percent or 16 applications), the ester-carbonate compound group (6.4 percent or 5 applications), and others (12.8 percent or 10 applications).
