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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/chemical-recycling-and-feedstock-recovery-enzymatic-polyester-depolymerization-patent-land-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Chemical RecyclingEnzymatic Polyester Depolymerization Patents: Who Is Filing and Where the Claim Space Is Still Open
18
Published Records
+40%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
WO
Leading Jurisdiction
10
Active Filers Ranked
Filing growth compares 2021 (5 records) with 2024 (7) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent filings at the intersection of enzymatic polyester depolymerization and chemical recycling or feedstock recovery — the use of polyester hydrolases, PETases and related engineered enzymes to break down PET and related polyesters back into monomers rather than mechanically reprocessing the polymer. It spans records published between 2015 and mid-2026, drawn from a focused search string rather than a broad recycling category, so the scope is deliberately narrow: enzyme engineering, degradation activity claims and the waste-processing systems built around them.
The scale is small — 18 published records in total — which is typical for an enzyme-engineering niche this specific. That makes individual filings, and individual assignees, proportionally more significant than in a broader materials category: a single well-cited application can shape freedom-to-operate discussions for the whole field.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Chemical Recycling & Feedstock Recovery — Enzymatic Polyester Depolymerization Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The Data
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 18-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings climbed from 5 in 2021 to a peak of 7 in 2024, a 40% increase over that span. 2024 is the most recent year that can be read as a complete count; 2025 and 2026 figures will keep rising as publication catches up with roughly an 18-month lag behind filing, so the apparent flattening at the edge of the chart should not be read as slowing activity.
IPC subclass composition
C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) appears in 61.1% of the 18 records, confirming that most patent activity is enzyme-engineering work rather than downstream process claims. C08J (polymer processing) follows at 38.9%, with B09B (solid waste disposal), A61K, and G01N each covering a smaller slice. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages sum to well over 100% and should be read against the 18-record total, not against each other as a closed pie.
Shares are the percentage of the 18 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Chemical Recycling & Feedstock Recovery — Enzymatic Polyester Depolymerization Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited records in this space
Representative Filing
Modified polyester hydrolase polypeptides with improved PET-degrading activity (WO2025015302A2)
TRIAD NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC
Modified polyester hydrolase Leipzig #7 (PHL7) polypeptides with improved polyethylene terephthalate degrading activity are provided. Nucleic acids and vectors encoding the modified PHL7 polypeptides are also provided. Also provided are fusion proteins including a PHL7 polypeptide fused to a reporter protein, such as a green fluorescent protein or portion thereof, and nucleic acids and vectors encoding the fusion proteins.Filed by Triad National Security, LLC, published January 2025 — one of the most recent entries in the dataset and a useful marker of where enzyme-variant claims are heading.
Highest-cited records in scope
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EP3517608A1 | New polypeptides having a polyester degrading activity and uses thereof | 33 |
| 2 | WO2019168811A1 | Enzymes for polymer degradation | 27 |
| 3 | WO2022076380A2 | Mutations for improving activity and thermostability of petase enzymes | 21 |
| 4 | WO2022221338A2 | Systems, microorganisms, or methods for waste pet valorization | 4 |
| 5 | US20250163405A1 | Polymer-degrading enzymes using yeast display and methods of use thereof | 2 |
| 6 | WO2025015288A1 | Methods to improve enzymes that degrade polyethylene terephthalate | 2 |
| 7 | WO2024243082A1 | Nylon-degrading enzymes and methods of use | 2 |
Citation counts accumulate over time and favour earlier publications; a low count on a 2024-2025 filing does not mean it is less important, only newer.
Publication numbers are shown where the record carries one (7 of 7 rows); clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Chemical Recycling & Feedstock Recovery — Enzymatic Polyester Depolymerization Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Read together, the trend, the class composition and the citation table point to a field that is still enzyme-centric and has not yet consolidated around a dominant assignee.
Growth
+40%, 2021→2024
filing growth, complete years
Activity is rising, not plateauing
The complete-year trend shows filings climbing from 5 in 2021 to 7 in 2024. Years after 2024 will look lower in the raw count purely because publication has not caught up yet, not because interest has dropped.
Treat 2025-2026 counts as provisional.
Concentration
Leader at 5, tenth at 1
records among ranked assignees
One leader, a long tail behind it
Of the ten companies in the ranking, the top filer holds 5 records while the fifth and tenth positions sit at 1 record each. That spread suggests the field has an identifiable leader in enzyme IP but is still open to new entrants rather than locked up.
Ranking reflects records, not the full 18-record family count.
Composition
61.1% carry C12N
of 18 records
Claims cluster on the enzyme, not the process
Genetic engineering and microorganism claims (C12N) dominate the class mix, well ahead of polymer-processing (C08J) and waste-disposal (B09B) classes. Most of the invented value being protected here is the enzyme variant itself, not the reactor or collection system around it.
Classes overlap; shares sum above 100% of 18 records.
Filing routes
WIPO 9, EPO 4, US 4
receiving offices
PCT is the default entry point
Half of the tracked filings entered through the WIPO PCT route before regional phase, with EPO and US direct filings roughly even behind it. That pattern is consistent with applicants — often universities and national labs — keeping jurisdictional options open before committing to specific markets.
Germany accounts for a single direct filing in this set.
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Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Chemical Recycling & Feedstock Recovery — Enzymatic Polyester Depolymerization Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing, or identifying a filing gap.
Check freedom-to-operate against the most-cited filings
The highest-cited records, led by EP3517608A1 and WO2019168811A1, are the ones most likely to be cited against a new enzyme-variant application. Any new filing on PETase or PHL7-family variants should be benchmarked against these first.
Explore citing recordsWatch the leader's next moves
With one assignee already holding 5 of the ranked records, its next 12-18 months of publications will show whether it is consolidating around a specific enzyme family or diversifying into process claims.
Track assignee activityDraft around the thin classes
Waste-disposal (B09B) and analytical (G01N) classes each cover under a quarter of the 18 records, well behind the enzyme-engineering core. That gap is where a process-level or detection-level claim has more room to stand on its own.
Map white space in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Chemical Recycling & Feedstock Recovery — Enzymatic Polyester Depolymerization Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions on enzymatic polyester depolymerization patents
The dataset ranks 10 assignees, with the top filer holding 5 of the records and the field narrowing quickly to single-record filers by fifth place. The group is a mix of universities, national laboratories and at least one specialist industrial enzyme company. No single assignee holds anything close to a majority of the field, so the picture is one of an early leader in a still-open space rather than a locked-up market.
Filings grew from 5 in 2021 to 7 in 2024, a 40% increase over that three-year span, which is the most reliable growth read available from this data. Counts for 2025 and 2026 appear lower only because publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, not because filing has slowed. Any claim that activity is cooling off based on the last one or two years of this chart would be reading the lag as a trend.
Most claims sit in C12N, covering microorganisms and genetic engineering, which appears in 61.1% of the 18 records in scope — this is fundamentally an enzyme-engineering field. Polymer processing (C08J) is the next largest category at 38.9%, with smaller shares in solid waste disposal, medicinal preparations and analytical testing. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these figures overlap rather than adding to 100%.
WO2025015302A2, filed by Triad National Security, LLC, covers modified PHL7 (polyester hydrolase Leipzig #7) polypeptides engineered for improved PET-degrading activity, along with the nucleic acids, vectors and fusion proteins used to express and detect them, including GFP-tagged reporter constructs. It is one of the most recent filings in this dataset, published in January 2025. Anyone working on PHL7-derived enzyme variants or using similar fluorescent-reporter fusion constructs for screening should review its claim scope closely before filing a closely related variant.
The class data shows enzyme-engineering claims (C12N) are dense while downstream process classes remain comparatively thin: solid waste disposal sits at 22.2% of records and analytical testing at 16.7%. That suggests more room to claim continuous-reactor immobilization methods, in-line monomer purification after hydrolysis, or enzyme-activity screening systems than to claim another general PETase variant. First movers in the process and detection layers face a much thinner prior-art base than those filing on the enzyme itself.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Chemical Recycling & Feedstock Recovery — Enzymatic Polyester Depolymerization Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.