Micro-plastic pollution in marine, freshwater and soil environment: a research and patent analysis

Plastic pollution is one of the major problems being faced by the world today. The lack of proper recycling and insufficient waste management practices; leaves more than 55% of plastic waste unattended resulting in open dumping of plastic waste. Microplastic pollution is one of the niche areas of study addressed by a few researchers and inventors. Researchers are working on various aspects concerned with the microplastic impact on marine, freshwater, and soil environment. The paper covers a detailed patent landscape for analysis, extraction, identification, and separation techniques for microplastics in marine, freshwater, and soil ecosystem. The patent analysis is performed through the IP classification, applicants, and inventor’s details, citation analysis, patent grant, kind codes, country codes, document types, and jurisdictions. The paper also includes relevant bibliometric analysis of the research publications in the area of microplastics identification, separation, and analysis techniques supporting the patent landscape to understand the overall research scenario in the area of microplastic pollution. The patent landscape is done by using the Lens patent database, Espacenet, and applications such as MS excel and origin. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of the research trends and the need for research and innovation in the field of microplastics pollution, considering the patenting activity and publications as an indicator of innovation.