Fast Growing Technologies Look For Circular Economy
The big 2025 technology story was a recurrence of what we saw in 2024 and 2023: artificial intelligence, and all the ways AI is changing (and will surely transform) the way the world does business and the structure of society. So you would think IFI CLAIMS’ ninth annual list of fastest growing technologies would be filled with the know-how going into the most scorching technology we’ve seen so far in the 21st century. But it’s not.
Those AI building blocks—machine learning, computing based on biological models—have appeared on our list in previous years as the technology was emerging and gaining steam. But AI has pretty much arrived and is currently in its stages of iteration. Now we look to other emerging technologies that we’ve detected in the patent codes; they’re the ones that tend to grow quickly.
IFI’s 2025 list is a particularly interesting one because the technologies are so thematically linked. Previous years have surfaced more disparate tech collections. This year, five of the fastest growers relate to batteries or the electrolytic processes around them. Metal also figures heavily with three categories relating to increasing the efficiency around producing it. Two cover the reduction of waste (including one of the aforementioned metal advancements). Just one deals with a medical topic. In fact, most of our fastest growers correlate to the overall idea that the world needs to keep finding ways to produce goods and materials in a more supportable fashion. In fact, sustainability is even more imperative as the machinery of AI hyperscales and its power-hungry data centers consume ever more energy.
Simply put: the patent applications are pointing to the fact that the world economy is looking for more circularity.
What follows below are IFI’s Top 10 Fastest Growing Technologies for 2025, based on publicly disclosed applications (not grants) put forth by the USPTO. Applications are the better proxy for technologies to come because of the long time lag between patent submission to grant, which is often years. Applications must be published within 18 months, so they serve as a more current indicator for where future technology is headed. Scroll on for the countdown.
Tech Bubbles
To compile IFI CLAIMS’ list of fastest growing technologies, we quantified the frequency of each code reference and then calculated the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the past five years. The scatterplot below represents the total number of patents and the growth for each technology. The biggest growers appear higher up and toward the right. Check out additional elements of each code by clicking on the circles in this interactive chart.
Diminishing Growth
To find which technologies are getting the most coverage in patent applications, IFI CLAIMS assessed more than 3,000 taxonomies in the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) system, which are organized into nine groupings: human necessities, performing operations/transporting, chemistry/metallurgy, textiles, fixed constructions, mechanical engineering, physics, electricity, and new technological developments. All of these areas fell in 2025. The biggest decliners were mechanical engineering, which dipped by 27% and fixed constructions, decreasing 25%.
10
Electrolytic Production of Inorganic Compounds or Non-Metals
CPC Code: C25B 1, Electrolytic Production of Inorganic Compounds or Non-Metals
Chemistry Patent Set
We start our countdown with a repeat technology from last year: C25B 1 (electrolytic production of inorganic compounds or non-metals). Last year, it debuted in sixth place; this year, it falls to tenth, with a compound annual growth clip of 17.3%. The technology covers electrolytic inventions that produce an inorganic result, substances like hydrogen, ammonia, or silicon. Honda is the top applicant in this area, with 134 references in its portfolio over the past five years, followed by Toshiba (113) and Panasonic (102). This 2024 application for a catalyst containing copper for use in electrolytic reduction of carbon oxides is just one of Honda’s recent inventions (still pending).
9
Reclaiming Non-Ferrous Metals from Scrap
CPC Code: C22B 7, Working up raw materials other than ores, e.g. scrap, to produce non-ferrous metals and compounds thereof
Scrap Value
Because manufacturing new metal from raw material is highly pollutive, processing scrap and using it again in new products is vital in a world that takes sustainability seriously. Metal, unlike other materials, can, in theory, be reused endlessly. This particular scrap metal category (C22B 7) casts iron out; it focuses on metals like copper, aluminum, lead and zinc. Growing at a CAGR of 18.2%, C22B 7 appears in the ninth spot in 2025, down from second place during the previous year. The code covers inventions that separate and purify non-ferrous metals from scrap, residue, waste and by-products of industrial production—making them usable again. Extricating the metal might involve chemicals, solvents, or electrolysis.
8
Hybrid Cells
CPC Code: H01M 50, Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the non-active parts of electrochemical cells other than fuel cells, e.g. hybrid cells
Battery Powered Patents
Hybrid cells combine different types of electrochemical technologies that make power both dense and portable. As with our seventh-place technology in electrolytic cell parts (see below), this code centers around the material portions of hybrid cells: casings, seals, connectors, and other structural elements (including their design and manufacture) that make the battery function. The classification has been increasing at a rate of 18.2%. LG Energy Solution, a leader in lithium-ion batteries, is far and away the frontrunner in the technology area with more than 4,000 references to this patent code in its applications over the time period, including this one from 2024 for a battery pack case. The patent is still pending. So is this battery system that includes a flexible printed circuit board. LG bills itself as having the world’s biggest battery-related patent portfolio, with more than 80,000 patents.
7
Electrolytic Cell Parts
CPC Code: C25B 9, Cells or assemblies of cells; Constructional parts of cells; Assemblies of constructional parts, e.g. electrode-diaphragm assemblies; Process-related cell features
Cell Building Blocks
So many successful technologies rely on the fusion of tangible and intangible properties. To wit, computer hardware and software are both crucial to processing power. Electrolytic technologies continue to advance, and for the second year in a row figure heavily among IFI’s fastest growers. CPC code C25B 9, with a growth rate of 19.1% (just a bit lower than last year), deals with the “hardware” portion of electrolysis. That is, the physical construction and parts of the cell—electrodes, layouts, connections and arrangements. Honda is the space leader with 119 patent application references. Toshiba comes next with 108, followed by Panasonic with 95. This Panasonic application is for a water electrolysis cell electrode. Here is one from Toshiba for a way to produce an electrode catalyst layer that reduces carbon dioxide. And here is another piece of electrolysis “hardware” from Honda.
6
Pretreatment of Ores or Scrap
CPC Code: C22B 1, Preliminary treatment of ores or scrap
Metal Prep
Just as a smooth coat of paint starts with a good prime, extracting valuable metals from ore and scrap requires plenty of initial groundwork. Crushing, grinding, washing, disassembling, and sorting before a process that isolates and gathers together the metal are crucial steps that increase both yield and product quality—and decreases strain on the environment. This patent code is growing at a rate of 19.6%. Sumitomo Metal Mining has used this code the most over the past five years, as found in this 2022 application for a preparation that increases the yield of valuable metals, as well as this technique for recovering iron.
5
Recovery of Waste Materials
CPC Code: C08J 11, Recovery or working-up of waste materials
Waste Management
Each person in the U.S. produces nearly five pounds of waste per day. Paper products comprise 23% of that waste, according to the latest figures from the Environmental Protection Agency. Food makes up some 22%. Plastics and yard trimmings are the next biggest contributors at more than 12% each. The environmental benefit of recycling 46 million tons of paper product in 2018, according to EPA analysis, saved 155 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is like parking 33 million cars for an entire year.
As society continues to find ways to make the economy more circular, patent technologies around recovering waste have become more prominent. Patent code C08J 11 (techniques for breaking down waste and reusing it in new materials) makes IFI’s list for the second year in a row now, growing 20.4%. The category has leveled off between 2024 and 2025 though, so it’s down two spots from last year’s third-place appearance at a growth rate of 26.1%.
Nan Ya Plastics Corp is the top waste recovery patenter with 79 applications using the classification, followed by P&G with 71. By 2030, the consumer goods giant wants all of its consumer packaging to be reusable or recyclable. Some Gillette refillable razors packages are now plastic-free and contain a minimum of 50% recyclables. Here is a recent application from P&G for reducing contamination in recycled patents. And two more for purification methods: refining contaminated reclaimed polyethylene and cleansing salvaged polymers. All cite code C08J 11, and all are still awaiting grant status.
4
Hydrometallurgy
CPC Code: C22B 3, Extraction of metal compounds from ores or concentrates by wet processes
Precious Metal
Extracting base metals from ores with high temperatures—called smelting—purifies elements like iron, zinc and silver but leaves a heavy carbon footprint. Hydrometallurgy (CAGR: 20.7%) separates some metals from ore using water-based solutions and temperatures much lower than those utilized in pyrometallurgy. Less energy intensity means fewer greenhouse gases. The process employs leaching, precipitation, and electrowinning (a form of electrolysis), and often requires the addition of acids. Hydrometallurgy is perfect for battery and e-waste recycling, for instance. Or for extracting cobalt, nickel, uranium, and aluminum. Freeport Minerals, a subsidiary of copper miner Freeport-McMoRan is the leader in this code with 64 applications. This one is for a mechanism that uses leaching for capturing a metallic-based liquid.
3
Bioinformatics
CPC Code: G16B 15, ICT specially adapted for analyzing two-dimensional [2D] or three-dimensional [3D] molecular structures, e.g. structural or functional relations or structure alignment
Dimensional Analysis
This code covers bioinformatics which harnesses big, biological data using the power of heavy-duty computing in order to better elucidate health and disease. A number of patent codes cover the area; G16B 15, in particular, focuses on multidimensional molecular structures related to genetic and protein data processing. The technology has increased at a rate of 21.2% over our time period. Guardant Health is the company with the most incorporations of this classification over the past five years with 40 instances. Genentech is second with 34, as seen in this recent application for applying machine learning to liver cancer images. Some smaller, lesser-known innovative companies may not rise to the top of our lists, but are worth noting nonetheless because they pop up on IFI’s patent radar. One such company: Natera, which has also been doing plenty of work in this patent classification. The company specializes in cell-free DNA, used in its tests for pregnancy, tumors, and organs. One recent application using this fast-growing code is this invention for detecting mutations.
2
Electrolytic Processes: Diaphragms and spacing elements
CPC Code: C25B 13, Diaphragms; Spacing elements
Cell Divisions
In electrolytic cells, anodes and cathodes need to go their separate ways so that products generated at each electrode don’t mingle. Diaphragms and spacers keep the split compounds resulting from chemical oxidation and reduction in their own corners. The idea of spacers may not have much tech razzle dazzle, but as the world moves toward a carbon neutral future, electrolysis is crucial to creating a sustainable supply of hydrogen. The technology is growing at a rate of 23.2%. The top applicant over the past five years is a company called Twelve, which bills itself as a startup that transforms CO2 into “essential products,” such as jet fuel. Bloom Energy is also inventing in the area. This recent application from Bloom for a solid oxide cell cites the spacer and diaphragm CPC code in the patent.
1
Electrolytic Processes: Operating or servicing cells
CPC Code: C25B 15, Operating or servicing cells
Cells Tower
This patent code revolves around managing the electrolytic process, including temperature, pH, and conductivity in order to control reactions. For the second year in a row, operating or servicing cells comes first in IFI CLAIMS’ list of fastest growing technologies. Growth rate: 23.6%, as a result of a steady climb in applications over subsequent years. Honda applied for the most patents over the time period with 96, followed by Toshiba (85) and Rondo Energy (67). According to a 2024 announcement, Honda has been researching ways to use water electrolysis systems and fuel cells to sustain life and activities in space. If granted, perhaps the company will be using this 2025 application for an electrolysis device that separates hydrogen gas from water to support such space efforts.
Learn more about the terms and methods utilized in this report.