Technological Monitoring on Recycled Paper

The origin of the papermaking took place in China in the year 105 (d.C), its creator, Ts'ai Lun used a process of disintegration of fibers of various materials which resulted in the final product called paper. The discovery of this product has brought humanity several benefits. As important as water and energy, paper, has become an indispensable product in our daily life, everything that is seen, touched and used, paper is constantly present, so much is its use on a world scale that there was a concern of as we would do so that this product could be reused to avoid an environmental catastrophe, polluting our ecosystem. After Law 12,305, the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy - PNRS sanctioned in 2010, there was a marked increase in the selective collection of this material and a high stimulus to the consumption of recycled paper. The PNRS obliges all public agencies to consume recycled material and demand is increasing, the price of recycled paper tends to fall a lot and finally paper recycling becomes one of the best investments of the sector in Brazil. Nowadays, the paper is manufactured from the extraction of cellulose, through the recycling process. Cellulose can be obtained from any fibrous material, but only a few tree species have the appropriate quality and purity. In Brazil, the most appropriate species for paper production are eucalyptus and pine. Although recycling is considered the core of a circular economy for the return of materials to the supply chain, its procedures are poorly understood. Waste recycling is considered a major source of energy savings and a promoter of CO2 recovery. In addition, it generates jobs and changes markets around the world. This article presents a technological prospection of patent deposits that use paper recycling, as key words were used recycled paper. For the search of patents, the Espacenet database was used, obtaining a total of 244 patent documents, from 1980 to 2017. The results show that the year 2014 obtained the largest number of patent deposits, 17 records. The countries holding patents on recycling are Germany with 47 patent documents, China with 46, the United States with 42, Japan with 40. In short, patent applications in this technology branch have much to grow around the world , since the recycling industry has a high potential to generate innovation, making it an indispensable business in developed economies.