Based on the 13 records in scope, the ranked leader holds 2 records, with the field otherwise spread thinly across 16 ranked assignees. The top 5 assignees together account for 61.5% of all records, and the top 10 account for the entire dataset, so there is no long tail beyond the ranked group. Most of these assignees are Indian universities or research institutions rather than large corporations, which is unusual for a global recycling technology and reflects the specific search scope used here rather than the industry as a whole.

The dataset shows filings rising from zero in 2017 to a peak of 4 in 2022, the highest single year recorded, with 3 filings recorded so far in 2026. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts will likely increase as more applications become public. A precise growth rate cannot be stated from this data because fewer than four complete years remain once that lag is accounted for.

Solid waste disposal methods (IPC class B09B) appear in 38.5% of the 13 records, making it the most common technical area, followed by polymer processing (C08J) and metal extraction and refining (C22B), each at 23.1%. Sorting technology, polymer compositions, semiconductor devices and printed circuit assemblies each appear in a smaller share of records. This mix suggests the claimed technology is concentrated on bulk material separation and chemical recovery steps rather than on component-level or device-level reuse.

Semiconductor-grade material recovery and printed-circuit-board-specific extraction processes appear in only 15.4% of the 13 records each, well below the coverage of bulk solid-waste and polymer processing claims. Automated sorting for mixed e-waste streams and secondary feedstock quality certification also show thin representation in this dataset. A first filing that claims process control or yield specifications in these narrower branches would face less directly overlapping prior art than one targeting bulk mechanical separation.

ZA202201649B claims a microwave-assisted alcoholysis process for recovering polyurethane specifically from discarded refrigerators, using mechanical crushing, an alcoholysis agent and catalyst inside a microwave reactor operating at 200-600 W and around 185 degrees Celsius, followed by solid-liquid separation and reduced-pressure distillation. It does not block alcoholysis of polyurethane from other appliance types, nor does it claim non-microwave heating methods or different catalyst chemistries. Anyone working on polyurethane recovery outside these specific process parameters and this specific waste stream would sit outside its literal claim scope, though a full claims analysis is needed before relying on that as a design-around.