Circular Economy and Patents for Treatment of Waste

Abstract

The circular economy is established as a modern concept, reflecting environmental expectations for the future development of society. But after years of thoughtless extraction of natural resources and irresponsible disposal of excess or already used and unnecessary products and materials, changing the consciousness of enterprise managers to implement transformation and move from a linear model to a circular economy is not an easy task. This paper presents the parameters of the concept of circular economy and justifies its application in modern times. The aim is to outline the role of Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs) as a supporting toolkit for applying the principles of the circular economy. Using empirical methods (research, comparison, analysis) the structure and dynamics of the patents granted in the field of waste treatment as an element in the waste management process is presented. The result of the study shows the trends of patent activity, which for the studied period 2002-2022 marks a negative downward trend (an average annual by almost 7%) in several patented waste treatment technologies for which a European patent has been granted. The International Patent Classification (IPC) indices with the highest concentration of patent rights are also revealed, with Technologies for the reclamation of contaminated soil in the first place, accounting for 33.4% of the total patented waste treatment technologies. The prepared analysis of patent information on the rights to patented waste treatment technologies is indicative of the reorientation of patentees and the higher commitment to the creation and implementation of little waste or nonwaste technologies.