The ProPla project: A Patent Landscape Analysis of the main technological trends for the microPET conversion into value-added products.
Abstract
The unsustainable use and disposal of plastics is causing persistent and widespread environmental contamination.
In particular, the pervasiveness of microplastics (MPs) in wastewater has become a major environmental issue in aquatic ecosystems and may cause adverse health effects for humans and other living organisms.
In this scenario, the Protein from Plastic (ProPla) project, funded by Fondazione Cariplo, aims at developing an innovative biotechnological application to recover PET microplastics (microPET) from wastewater and exploit the power of protein engineering and system biology approaches to generate a novel bacterial strain able to convert microPET into amino acids, that can be used in many industries (food, cosmetics, etc.) in a circular bioeconomy perspective.
This paper presents the socio-economic framework of the ProPla project, which includes a patent landscape analysis (PLA) and a socio-economic assessment, aimed at highlighting the system of values and the economic opportunities embodied in the process.
The PLA was crucial in mapping the main technological trends related to the ProPla process, highlighting opportunities with significant economic potential for the isolation of MPs from water, their characterization and the development of a novel E. coli strain for the conversion of PET into amino acids.
In particular, the main aim of the PLA is to provide an overview of the technological ‘state of the art’ and of the main innovative emerging trends concerning:
The isolation of MPs from water and their characterization.
The development of a novel E. coli strain for conversion of microPET degradation products into amino acids.
The PLA was conducted in accordance with the guidelines prescribed by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Trippe, 2015), through a patent search strategy that combined a series of queries based on the most relevant patent text keywords and of the most relevant technological IPC/CPC patent classes.
The socio-economic assessment aimed at underlining the multiple direct and indirect values arising from the project outcomes and products. The issue of the economic feasibility of microPET conversion into value-added products was examined, together with the evidence of the potential social and economic benefits coming from the valorisation of microPET by way of a bio-based conversion process.
Finally, an impact analysis has been developed to emphasize the contribution of the overall project results in the achievement of SDGs, at a public level, and of ESG, at a firm level.
References
Trippe, A. (2015) Guidelines for Preparing Patent Landscape Reports. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Publication No. 946.
Raffaello Seri
Professor of Econometrics
My research interests include statistics, numerical analysis, operations research, psychology, economics and management.