Investment in sustainable packaging innovation drops
Innovation investment in biodegradable and compostable packaging materials has degraded, reports an intellectual property firm.
The Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fifth Edition from Appleyard Lees examines patent filing data through to 31 Dec 2023.
Following an all-time high of 1,087 annual patent filings in 2021, the subsequent two years each dropped to just three-quarters of the previous peak activity (824 filings in 2022 and 821 in 2023). In contrast, the previous five years saw 150% growth, from 436 filings in 2017.
Appleyard Lees European and UK Patent Attorney David Jasiewicz says, ‘This dip may reflect the global economic downturn, reducing appetite for riskier, emerging technologies…Commercialisation bottlenecks including costs, scale-up challenges and uncertainty about consumer uptake might have caused companies to pause their investment in this area of innovation.’
Patent filing activity for plastic packaging alternatives took different trajectories in 2023, with bioplastics recovering slightly after a fall in 2022, while paper/wood continued to drop (by more than 40% since 2021). Meanwhile, innovation in seaweed-based packaging saw its second-highest-ever year for patent activity, with 35 applications in 2023.
Appleyard Lees’ analysis also indicates businesses might be refocusing on more mature infrastructure that is also compatible with the recyclability and reuse model, therefore reallocating resources from compostables.
Global packaging innovation shows a decline across previously-active countries and continents, including South Korea, Europe and Japan.
India is an exception, with activity increasing by almost 300% between 2019 and 2023, mostly from academic institutions.
The report speculates that this is driven by increasing demand for sustainable packaging solutions, due to the country’s 2022 ban on some single-use plastics and its growing consumer market.
