{"id":177341,"date":"2026-06-02T07:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T05:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=177341"},"modified":"2026-05-28T12:04:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:04:24","slug":"recovering-critical-materials-from-batteries-chinese-inventors-selected-as-finalists-for-the-european-inventor-award-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/recovering-critical-materials-from-batteries-chinese-inventors-selected-as-finalists-for-the-european-inventor-award-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Recovering critical materials from batteries: Chinese inventors selected as finalists for the European Inventor Award 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/05\/A-EIA-26-collage-1920-x-1080-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"The twelve finalists who have been selected for the 2026 European Inventor Award\" class=\"wp-image-177344\" style=\"width:650px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/05\/A-EIA-26-collage-1920-x-1080-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/05\/A-EIA-26-collage-1920-x-1080-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/05\/A-EIA-26-collage-1920-x-1080-1-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/05\/A-EIA-26-collage-1920-x-1080-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/05\/A-EIA-26-collage-1920-x-1080-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/05\/A-EIA-26-collage-1920-x-1080-1-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/05\/A-EIA-26-collage-1920-x-1080-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The twelve finalists who have been selected for the 2026 European Inventor Award \u00a9 European Patent Office<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Yu Haijun and Xie Yinghao developed a patented method to recycle various decommissioned lithium-ion batteries into high-performance materials<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The invention enables directed recovery and reintegration of critical elements into new batteries, protecting the environment while reducing reliance on primary mining<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Chinese inventors are finalists in the \u2018Non-EPO Countries\u2019 category. The winners will be announced during the Award ceremony on 2 July 2026 in Berlin<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public voting for the Popular Prize opens today and will run until the ceremony on 2 July 2026<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>As global demand for electric vehicles and energy storage grows rapidly, securing sustainable supplies of critical battery materials has become a strategic priority worldwide. A new study from the European Patent Office and the International Energy Agency on battery circularity estimates that around 1.2 million electric vehicle batteries could reach the end of their lives in 2030, and 14 million in 2040. Against this backdrop,\u00a0Yu Haijun and Xie Yinghao\u00a0have developed a patented\u00a0recycling technology\u00a0for the directed recovery of reusable lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NCM) from spent lithium-ion batteries. For this work, the Chinese team has been\u00a0selected as finalists in the \u2018Non-EPO Countries\u2019 category of the European Inventor Award 2026\u00a0by an independent jury.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recovering battery materials at a mega-industrial scale<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Conventional battery recycling methods often involve breaking spent batteries down into low-value outputs or relying on multiple energy-intensive processing steps. These approaches can limit recovery efficiency and reduce the environmental benefits of recycling. Furthermore, the recovered materials are difficult to reintegrate into new battery manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chinese team addressed this challenge by developing a method known as directed recycling. Instead of separating batteries back into individual raw elements, the technology converts spent batteries and production scrap directly into regenerated cathode materials perfectly suitable for manufacturing new batteries. By preserving the functional structure of the materials, the method significantly improves efficiency, achieving a recovery rate of up to 99.6%, reduces energy use and lowers emissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWith its ultra-high recovery rates, superior material performance, and exceptionally low processing costs,\u00a0we are reducing our reliance on millions of tons of virgin nickel, cobalt and lithium ore, which is a major contribution to sustainability,\u201d\u00a0said <strong>Yu Haijun<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The technology was developed for nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) materials from lithium-ion batteries, which are widely used in the electric vehicle industry. Through successive technology iterations, the team improved new material performance, safety and lifespan, enabling regenerated materials to meet the various stringent requirements of automotive applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Building a circular battery ecosystem<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The invention grew out of practical experience with battery manufacturing and waste management. In the early 2000s, the team observed the growing obstacle of managing spent batteries alongside China\u2019s dependence on imported raw materials. This insight led to the establishment of Brunp Recycling and a long-term research effort focused on scalable recycling technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yu Haijun later led the conceptual development of reverse product positioning design and directed recycling technologies, assembling a multidisciplinary team to overcome technical bottlenecks in battery regeneration. Following Brunp\u2019s integration into the CATL ecosystem, the technology has further achieved ultra-large industrial-scale application and applied across major global electric vehicle supply chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The recycling method supports a more circular battery economy. In alignment with the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/environment.ec.europa.eu\/news\/new-rules-boost-recycling-efficiency-waste-batteries-2025-07-04_en\">European Commission<\/a> roadmap linked to the Batteries Regulation, material recovery targets rise from 90% by 2027 to 95% by 2031 for cobalt, copper, lead and nickel, with lithium targets increasing from 50% to 80% over the same period. Against this policy backdrop, higher-efficiency recycling helps keep critical materials in use for longer and reduces pressure on primary extraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe are excited to see China and Europe working together on new energy industry. In the near future, I think the battery recycling segment will become a big issue that both Europe&#8217;s new-energy industry and the society as a whole need to think about,\u201d said <strong>Yu Haijun.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Yu Haijun and Xie Yinghao are two of the finalists in the \u2018Non-EPO Countries\u2019 category of the European Inventor Award 2026. The other \u2018Non-EPO Countries\u2019 finalists are the Chilean agricultural engineer An\u00edbal Montalva Rodr\u00edguez and architect Miguel \u00c1ngel Fern\u00e1ndez Donoso for their living biofilter that improves air quality and the American inventor Emily Morris and German professor Thorsten Stoesser for their modular hydropower system. The European Patent Office will announce the winners during a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epo.org\/en\/news-events\/european-inventor-award\/2026-event\">livestreamed ceremony<\/a>&nbsp;from Berlin on 2 July 2026. In addition to the four award categories, the Popular Prize will be decided through a combined vote by the public and the independent jury. Public voting opens on 12 May 2026 and will run until the ceremony on 2 July 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find more information about the technology, its impact and the inventors&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epo.org\/en\/news-events\/european-inventor-award\/meet-the-finalists\/yu-haijun-and-xie-yinghao\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As global demand for electric vehicles and energy storage grows rapidly, securing sustainable supplies of critical battery materials has become a strategic priority worldwide. A new study from the European Patent Office and the International Energy Agency on battery circularity estimates that around 1.2 million electric vehicle batteries could reach the end of their lives [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":177344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"As global demand for electric vehicles and energy storage grows rapidly, securing sustainable supplies of critical battery materials has become a strategic priority worldwide","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572,17143],"tags":[22872,27993,15962,17202,10416,10453],"supplier":[27994,2317,1917],"class_list":["post-177341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","category-recycling","tag-advancedrecycling","tag-batteryrecycling","tag-biofilter","tag-chemicalrecycling","tag-circulareconomy","tag-recycling","supplier-brunp-recycling","supplier-european-commission","supplier-european-patent-office-epo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177345,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177341\/revisions\/177345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177341"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=177341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}