Chinese inventors Xie Yinghao and Yu Haijun secure dual win at the European Inventor Award 2026 for smart battery recycling

• Xie Yi ghao, Yu Haiju a d thei team eceive the Eu opea I ve to Awa d 2026 i the No -EPO Cou t ies catego y, as well as wi i g the Popula P ize, fo thei p ocess that t a sfo ms spe t lithium-io batte ies i to high-quality mate ials
• The tech ology achieves ecove y ates of 99.6% fo ickel, cobalt a d ma ga ese a d 96.5% fo lithium, while educi g acid a d alkali co sumptio by 73%
• The p ocess p oduces batte y-g ade mate ials with a 61% lowe ca bo footp i t tha co ve tio al p oductio methods
• The awa d was p ese ted du i g the Eu opea I ve to Awa d 2026 ce emo y i Be li today

MUNICH, July 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, the Eu opea Pate t Office (EPO) has awa ded Chi ese i ve to s Xie Yi ghao, Yu Haiju a d thei team the Eu opea I ve to Awa d 2026 i the No -EPO Cou t ies catego y fo developi g a sma t batte y ecycli g p ocess that ege e ates high-quality cathode mate ials f om spe t lithium-io batte ies. The pai also wo the Popula P ize, decided by a combi atio of public vote a d ju y vote. Acco di g to the I te atio al E e gy Age cy, mo e tha 2 000 GWh of lithium-io batte y capacity was added wo ldwide betwee 2018 a d 2023, powe i g a ou d 40 millio elect ic vehicles a d thousa ds of batte y sto age p ojects. As dema d fo batte ies co ti ues to g ow, so does the eed to ecove c itical aw mate ials such as lithium, ickel a d cobalt. The i ve to s’ tech ology e ables spe t lithium-io batte ies to be co ve ted di ectly i to high-pe fo ma ce cathode mate ials fo euse i ew batte ies, educi g waste, esou ce co sumptio a d ca bo emissio s.

The Eu opea I ve to Awa d ecog ises i ve to s whose i ovatio s p ovide a swe s to some of the wo ld’s most p essi g challe ges. The othe fi alists i the No -EPO Cou t ies catego y we e A íbal Mo talva Rod íguez a d Miguel Á gel Fe á dez Do oso fo a pla t-based ai -filt atio system, a d Emily Mo is, Tho ste Stoesse a d thei team fo a hyd opowe tech ology that actively di ects wate towa ds tu bi es.

“It is a t eme dous ho ou fo ou team’s sma t batte y ecycli g tech ology to wi the Eu opea I ve to Awa d 2026 i the No -EPO Cou t ies catego y. Ou tech ology e ables the di ect ege e atio of cathode mate ials f om spe t batte ies, d astically cutti g mi e al co sumptio a d ca bo emissio s. This b eakth ough comes f om two decades of dedicated esea ch i to the ci cula eco omy. This ecog itio belo gs to ou e ti e R&D team a d all those committed to the global g ee a d low-ca bo age da. Movi g fo wa d, we will keep adva ci g batte y ci cula ity, boost tech ical collabo atio betwee Chi a a d Eu ope i ew e e gy, a d wo k togethe to build a sustai able e e gy futu e,” said Yu Haiju .

A sma te oute to batte y ecycli g

Lithium ickel-cobalt-ma ga ese oxide (NCM) is a key mate ial used i elect ic-vehicle batte ies. Co ve tio al ecycli g methods ofte ely o le gthy, chemically i te sive p ocesses that co sume la ge qua tities of wate , acids, alkalis a d e e gy. The B u p team developed a mo e selective app oach k ow as di ected ecycli g, which co ve ts spe t batte ies di ectly i to batte y-g ade NCM cathode mate ial while p ese vi g the fu ctio al st uctu e of the mate ials.

Acco di g to compa y data, the p ocess ecove s 99.6% of ickel, cobalt a d ma ga ese a d 96.5% of lithium. It also educes acid a d alkali co sumptio by 73%, sho te s p ocessi g steps by mo e tha 18% a d lowe s the ca bo footp i t of ege e ated cathode mate ials by 61% compa ed with co ve tio al p oductio methods.

Buildi g a ci cula batte y eco omy

The o igi s of the tech ology date back to the ea ly 2000s, whe the team ecog ised the g owi g challe ge of ma agi g spe t batte ies a d Chi a’s depe de ce o impo ted aw mate ials. He fou ded B u p Recycli g i 2005 with the goal of tu i g eti ed batte ies i to valuable esou ces. Yu Haiju late developed the co cepts of Reve se P oduct Positio i g Desig (RPPD) a d Di ected Recycli g Tech ologies (DRT), while Xie Yi ghao helped adva ce the tech ology f om labo ato y developme t to i dust ial deployme t.

A majo milesto e came i 2015 whe B u p became pa t of the CATL ecosystem, e abli g the team to scale its ecycli g tech ologies ac oss global batte y supply chai s. Today, B u p has become a global leade i spe t batte y ecycli g a d ege e ated te a y cathode mate ials. The compa y’s ecycli g solutio s suppo t majo automotive ma ufactu e s a d co t ibute to the developme t of a mo e ci cula batte y i dust y.

All the wi e s of the 2026 editio of the Eu opea I ve to Awa d we e a ou ced at a ce emo y today i Be li . You ca st eam the ce emo y o li e he e. Fi d mo e i fo matio about the i ve tio ’s impact, the tech ology a d the i ve to s’ sto ies he e.

About the Eu opea I ve to Awa d The Eu opea I ve to Awa d is o e of Eu ope’s most p estigious i ovatio p izes. Lau ched by the EPO i 2006, the awa d ho ou s i dividuals a d teams, who have come up with solutio s to some of the biggest challe ges of ou time. The Eu opea I ve to Awa d ju y co sists of i ve to s who a e all fo me fi alists. To judge p oposals, the i depe de t pa el d aws o thei wealth of tech ical, busi ess, a d i tellectual p ope ty expe tise. All i ve to s must have bee g a ted a Eu opea pate t fo thei i ve tio . Read mo e he e o the va ious catego ies, p izes, selectio  c ite ia a d livest eam ce emo y held o  2 July i Be li .

About the EPO With 6,300 staff membe s, the Eu opea Pate t Office (EPO) is o e of the la gest public se vice i stitutio s i Eu ope. Headqua te ed i Mu ich with offices i Be li , B ussels, The Hague a d Vie a, the EPO was fou ded with the aim of st e gthe i g co-ope atio o pate ts i Eu ope. Th ough the EPO’s ce t alised pate t g a ti g p ocedu e, i ve to s a e able to obtai high-quality pate t p otectio i  up to 46 cou t ies, cove i g a ma ket of some 715 millio people. The EPO is also the wo ld’s leadi g autho ity i pate t i fo matio a d pate t sea chi g.