Cobalt recycling analysis of patents' data
Description
The patent dataset analyzed is based on search criteria aimed at differentiating patent data regarding worldwide filed applications dealing with Cobalt recycling, and subsequently focusing on NMC battery recycling. Such differentiation is essentially achieved by two different search strategies aimed at retrieving the patent data from the EPO database Patstat (Autumn 2022 ed.), the former being based on the presence of the CPC Y02P10/20 classification code in the search query, while the latter being devoid of the CPC Y02P10/20. The two datasets exclusively based on a list of classification codes w/o keywords can be used as control, to be subsequently compared to results focusing instead on Cobalt in case this element is specified in the search criteria mentioned above, due to its possible presence either in the patent title or in the abstract. The patent applications’ trends can be evaluated worldwide during the last decade (2010 – 2022). Additional information is based on proxies that have been dealt with in the publication regarding the equivalent approach used to look for WEEE/RAEE recycling (see: "WEEE recycling patents' dataset", DOI: 10.17632/4ysw32c9fy.1). Moreover, the inclusion of the CPC “green” classification code Y02P10/20 (see “Rare Earth Elements (REE) recycling analysis of patents' data”, doi: 10.17632/c2293m3yjf), specifically regarding the metal recycling methodologies, determines a consistent increase of the patent documents retrieved without including such classification code in the search query. Interestingly, if the search query is modified by simply replacing the CPC classification code with the IPC/CPC C22B23 code, specifically referring to the production of Cobalt or Nickel, almost 90% of the data are common to both patent collections, even if the C22B23 might be not acknowledged as a “green” classification code. The datasets produced with or without including the CPC Y02P10/20 can undergo further analysis, performed using the Orbit Intelligence patent database (available from Questel) to focus on the NMC batteries recycling. The proxies analyzed in each of these two NMC datasets lead to the conclusion that while the presence of CPC Y02P10/20 in the search query might positively affect the exhaustivity of the Cobalt recycling search, on the other hand the specificity of the NMC search criteria diminishes and therefore some strategy to cleanup false positive results should be taken in consideration.
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Steps to reproduce
The procedure aimed at retrieving the relevant patent documents dealing with Cobalt recovery techniques is extensively explained in the Methodology section. The reproducibility implicates the availability of patent databases such as Patstat online (managed by the European Patent Office - https://www.epo.org/searching-for-patents/business/patstat.html). Upon following the instructions written in the Methodology section and using the datasets' information included in the Data files' section, the reproducibility of our results is straightforward. The main conclusions of the whole analysis follow: 1. The trend of patent applications dealing with Cobalt recycling demonstrates an increase that is especially ascribed to the applications filed to the Chinese patent authority (CNIPA/SIPO), independently from the inclusion or exclusion of the CPC Y02P10/20 green classification code from the search criteria. In the other cases, the trends of the patent applications filed to either national or supranational authorities do not reveal a remarkable increase of the patent applications’ number. 2. Most patent families are characterized by the assignment of either IPC C22B7 main group (Working up raw materials other than ores, e.g. scrap, to produce non-ferrous metals and compounds thereof) or IPC C22B23 (Obtaining Nickel or Cobalt) as well as IPC or CPC classification codes concerning the battery recycling (such as H01M10/54: Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste accumulators, Y02W30/84: Recycling of batteries or fuel cells) and CPC classification codes concerning the metal recycling (Y02P10/20). 3. The classification codes mentioned in 2. are the most representative either upon including or excluding the CPC Y02P10/20 from the search criteria or the replacement of such CPC classification code with the IPC/CPC C22B23. 4. The most active players are headquartered in Asian countries, especially China and Japan. The Chinese applicants usually file the patent applications exclusively to the CNIPA/SIPO, with only few exceptions, whereas the Japanese applicants file the patent applications either to the national or the supranational patent authorities. 5. Proxies concerning the trend of the patent applications, the ranking of the applicants and the ranking of the classification codes are usually available when focusing the patent analysis on specific types of batteries (LCO, NCA and NMC) or technologies focused on Cobalt recycling procedures (pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy and leaching). 6. A focus regarding the NMC batteries recycling reveals that the inclusion of the CPC Y02P10/20 to the list of the classification codes characterizing the search criteria may be advantageous because determines an increase in the number of results, on the other hand it might entail a decrease of the search specificity because several patent documents, though dealing with Cobalt recycling, seldom concern the NMC batteries recycling, unless a cleanup phase is taken in consideration.