Recyclability Sorting AI Patent Snapshot 2026
The formal patent record for Recyclability Sorting AI is effectively nascent, with a single patent family on file filed by one Spanish university in 2023. The field is almost entirely open, presenting a rare early-mover window for organizations prepared to invest in AI-driven waste-stream classification.
A single filer holds the entire formal patent position
Universitat Politècnica de València is the sole ranked applicant in this corpus, holding the only patent family on file. Concentration is total: the top five filers account for the full share of the ranked applicants visible in this query — a category that here collapses to one.
There is no meaningful tier structure to describe. The absence of filings from large industrial recyclers, waste-management corporations, or AI platform companies means the competitive gap between a first mover and all others is currently at its widest.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Universitat Politècnica de València | 1 |
The university’s position spans object-sorting automation, solid-waste disposal, plastics processing, material analysis, and AI-model computing — suggesting a broad, foundational claim scope rather than a narrow application patent.
The corpus covers activity through 2026, but filings from roughly 2024–2026 are subject to publication lag and may be under-represented; any near-term entrants may not yet appear. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A single 2023 filing defines the entire activity curve
The annual filing trend is flat at zero for every year from 2017 through 2022, with one family recorded in 2023 and no further activity visible through 2026. The technology composition reflects that single family spread evenly across five IPC branches.
Annual filing trend
The sole filing appears in 2023; all other years in the ten-year window show zero activity. Years 2024–2026 should be treated with caution given publication lag — additional filings may exist but not yet be published.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
The five branches — B07C (postal and object sorting), B09B (solid waste disposal), B29B (plastics preparation), G01N (material analysis and testing), and G06N (AI-model computing) — each carry equal weight, reflecting the single family’s multi-class classification and signaling the cross-disciplinary nature of the technology.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Procedure and device for the identification and cl…
Procedure and device for the identification and classification of single-material vs multi-layer plastics for recycling applications. Device for the identification and classification of single-material versus multi-layer plastic samples for recycling applications comprising: a time-domain THz spectroscopy system and a processor, where the spectroscopy… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Open this patent in Eureka →Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Universitat Politècnica de València
The university holds the only patent family in scope, filed in 2023, and is classified as a new entrant with one recent filing and no prior-period base. Its technology emphasis spans object-sorting automation (B07C 5), solid-waste disposal (B09B 101), and plastics preparation (B29B 17) — a breadth that suggests foundational rather than incremental R&D. There is no trajectory data to extrapolate from a single data point.
patent families: 1No challenger on record
No second-ranked applicant exists in the corpus. The challenger position is open to any organization — industrial recycler, AI platform provider, or materials company — prepared to file in the core IPC branches or in adjacent automation and sensor-fusion classes. Entry now would face only the single academic family as prior art.
patent families: 0Frequently asked questions
The current corpus contains one patent family, filed by Universitat Politècnica de València in 2023 and published in Spain. This reflects both the genuine nascency of the field and the possibility that very recent filings (2024–2026) have not yet cleared the publication lag window.
Universitat Politècnica de València is the sole documented applicant, holding the only patent family on file. No industrial or commercial entity currently appears in the patent record.
The single family is classified across five IPC branches: B07C (postal and object sorting), B09B (solid waste disposal), B29B (plastics preparation), G01N (material analysis and testing), and G06N (computing based on AI models), indicating a broad, cross-disciplinary scope.
Protection has been filed in Spain only. Major markets including the United States, China, Germany, Japan, and South Korea show no patent coverage in this corpus, leaving those jurisdictions open for new filings.
With only one filing on record, no growth trend can be established. The zero values for 2024–2026 should not be read as declining interest; they are expected given that patents typically take 18–24 months from filing to publication, and any recent activity would not yet appear in the record.
The corpus evidence points to two adjacent but undocumented areas: hyperspectral and sensor-fusion approaches for polymer-grade discrimination (G01J/G01N), and AI-guided robotic manipulation for mixed-waste streams (B25J). Both are technically adjacent to the existing filing and currently absent from the patent record, though they should be treated as observations of sparsity rather than guaranteed commercial opportunities.
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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.