Food Waste Pretreatment Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- One filer dominates. The ranked leader holds 15 records against a fifth-place count of just 2, in a ranking of only 6 companies total.
- Filing peaked in 2018. The peak year saw 16 records; the 2021→2024 span (the last complete years) shows a -100% change, though 2025 onward is still filling in.
- Separation and mixing dominate the art. B09B (solid waste disposal) and B01F (mixing & stirring) cover 70.0% and 60.0% of the 20 records in scope, while plastics prep and cleaning classes sit at 10.0% each.
Filing growth compares 2021 (1 records) with 2024 (0) — 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.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks patent activity at the intersection of food waste pretreatment and organic waste separation — the mechanical and process steps that turn a contaminated organics-inorganics waste stream into a clean feedstock for anaerobic digestion, composting or rendering. The search string combines pretreatment and separation terms with the specific technical vocabulary of the field: hydraulic pulping, grease recovery, plastic contamination, grit removal, slurry consistency and equipment wear.
The scope covers 20 published records between 2015 and the data cut-off of 31 July 2026, drawn from receiving offices spanning Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Austria. That geographic spread, against a small record count, points to a field defined by a handful of applicants pursuing multi-jurisdiction protection around a narrow set of apparatus claims rather than a broad, crowded filing landscape.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 20-record dataset: how filing activity moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend: a sharp 2018 peak, then a falling tail
Filing rose from zero in 2017 to a peak of 16 records in 2018, then declined. Looking only at complete years, the count fell from 1 in 2021 to 0 in 2024 — a -100% change over that span. Records from 2025 onward are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent years should not be read as a continued decline.
IPC composition: separation and mixing hardware lead
B09B (solid waste disposal) appears in 70.0% of the 20 records and B01F (mixing & stirring) in 60.0%, with B07B (sieving & sorting) at 50.0%. Crushing/grinding (B02C), filtration-type separation (B01D), general cleaning (B08B) and plastics preparation (B29B) each sit at 15.0% or below, marking them as secondary but present claim areas rather than empty ones.
Shares are the percentage of the 20 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Food Waste Pretreatment and Separation with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about food waste pretreatment and separation and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited record anchors the field
Method and Apparatus for separating organics from a contaminated organics-inorganics waste stream (US20180369828A1)
An improved process and apparatus for separating organics and inorganics from waste material, aimed at preparing the separated organic fraction for biogas production or other diversion from landfill. Waste material — municipal solid waste or source-separated organic waste — passes through a first separation treatment. The apparatus uses a hopper to receive contaminated organic waste, feeding a vertical separator that creates a vortex effect inside a stationary filtration drum, by which solid contaminants such as paper and plastic are separated from the organic fraction.Filed 2018-12-27. This is the field's most-cited record, at 14 citations within this corpus, and its granted counterparts (EP3826758A1/B1) extend the same core mechanism into Europe.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20180369828A1 | Method and Apparatus for separating organics from a contaminated organics-inorganics waste stream | 14 |
| 2 | EP3826758B1 | Apparatus for separating organics from a contaminated organics-inorganics waste stream | 1 |
| 3 | EP3826758A1 | Method and apparatus for separating organics from a contaminated organics-inorganics waste stream | 1 |
Citation counts favour older records that have had more time to accumulate citations within this corpus; treat them as a signal of influence, not current importance.
Publication numbers are shown where the record carries one (3 of 3 rows); clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three findings a reader would not get from skimming the record list.
One applicant family holds the core mechanism
The ranked leader accounts for 15 of the records in a ranking of just 6 companies, with fifth place at only 2. The strongest co-assignee pairs all involve variants of the same family name, suggesting the IP is held closely within one applicant group rather than distributed across independent competitors.
A single peak, then a documented drop-off
Filing activity is not steady: it spikes to 16 records in the peak year and then falls away, with the last complete three-year span (2021→2024) showing a -100% change. That shape is more consistent with one applicant completing a filing programme than with an emerging field still attracting new entrants.
Apparatus claims cluster on separation and mixing
B09B and B01F together dominate the composition, meaning the occupied claim space is the mechanical separation and mixing hardware itself — vortex separators, filtration drums, hoppers — rather than downstream chemistry or sensing. High density here signals occupied claim territory, not necessarily a mature or optimised technology.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to food waste pretreatment and separation, with the prior art for and against each one.
A narrow applicant base with room at the edges
The ranking is short — 6 companies — and dominated by one filer, but the IPC composition shows several subclasses with only 2 records each, which is where new entrants would find open claim space.
The dominant filer
One applicant group holds 15 of the 20 records in scope, with the core mechanism — a vortex-effect separator inside a stationary filtration drum — protected across multiple jurisdictions including EPO filings.
Everyone else files sparingly
Beyond the leader, the remaining ranked companies each hold small counts, down to 2 at fifth place. Co-assignee patterns suggest these are related entities rather than independent competitors building separate portfolios.
Protection spread thin across offices
Filings sit across Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Austria in small numbers each, consistent with one applicant pursuing selective multi-jurisdiction coverage rather than broad global filing.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| VANDERBEKEN CEDRIC JEAN LUC | 0 | — |
| VANDERBEKEN OLIVIER HUGO CHRISTOPHER DANY | 0 | — |
| VANDERBEKEN MARC | 0 | — |
| MARC ALPHONSE VANDERBEKEN | 0 | — |
| CEDRIC JEAN LUC VANDERBEKEN | 0 | — |
| VANDERBEKEN CEDRIC | 0 | — |
Where to take this
The dataset points to a narrow, closely-held field with specific gaps rather than an open frontier.
Map the leader's claim boundaries
Before filing on separator or filtration-drum designs, get a claim-by-claim read on the leading family's granted patents and pending applications across the jurisdictions where you plan to operate.
Explore claims in EurekaTest the under-claimed branches
Grease recovery, plastic-contamination sorting and equipment-wear materials each sit at or below 15% of records — worth a freedom-to-operate check before assuming they're open.
Run a white space searchWatch for the 2025-26 catch-up
Because publication lags filing by around 18 months, recent-year zeros are not evidence of abandonment; recheck this trend once 2025 filings finish publishing.
Set a filing alertCommon questions on this landscape
A single applicant group holds the majority of the ranked patents in this dataset, with 15 of the 20 records in scope. The ranking covers only 6 companies total, and the gap to fifth place (2 records) is wide, so this is a field defined by one dominant filer rather than a crowded competitive set. Co-assignee patterns in the data suggest the records are held across related individuals within the same family group rather than distributed independent competitors.
Filing peaked at 16 records in 2018 and has declined since. Looking only at complete years, the count fell from 1 in 2021 to 0 in 2024, a -100% change over that span. Years from 2025 onward are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so it is too early to read the most recent years as continued decline rather than a reporting gap.
The claims concentrate on mechanical separation and mixing hardware: B09B (solid waste disposal) appears in 70.0% of the 20 records and B01F (mixing & stirring) in 60.0%, with sieving and sorting (B07B) at 50.0%. Crushing, filtration-type separation, general cleaning and plastics preparation each appear in 10-15% of records, marking them as present but secondary claim areas. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100%.
US20180369828A1 covers an apparatus and method for separating organics from a contaminated organics-inorganics waste stream, using a hopper feeding a vertical separator that creates a vortex effect inside a stationary filtration drum. It is the most-cited record in this dataset, with 14 citations, and its mechanism is protected in Europe as well through granted and pending counterparts. Anyone building a vortex-based or filtration-drum separator for mixed organic waste should review this claim family closely before finalising a design.
The subclasses sitting at or below 15% of the 20 records — plastics preparation, general cleaning, filtration-type separation and crushing/grinding — are the more open areas, especially specific sub-problems like grease recovery, plastic-contamination detection and equipment-wear-resistant materials. These are not empty categories, but the filing density is far lower than in the dominant separation and mixing classes. A first claim there would need to target a specific sensing, material or detection mechanism rather than the general separator apparatus already well covered.
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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.