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Xie Yinghao, Yu Haijun and their team receive the European Inventor Award 2026 in the Non-EPO Countries category, as well as winning the Popular Prize, for their process that transforms spent lithium-ion batteries into high-quality materialsThe technology achieves recovery rates of 99.6% for nickel, cobalt and manganese and 96.5% for lithium, while reducing acid and alkali consumption by 73%The process produces battery-grade materials with a 61% lower carbon footprint than conventional production methodsThe award was presented during the European Inventor Award 2026 ceremony in Berlin today MUNICH, July 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the European Patent Office (EPO) has awarded Chinese inventors Xie Yinghao, Yu Haijun and their team the European Inventor Award 2026 in the Non-EPO Countries category for developing a smart battery recycling process that regenerates high-quality cathode materials from spent lithium-ion batteries. The pair also won the Popular Prize, decided by a combination of public vote and jury vote. According to the International Energy Agency, more than 2 000 GWh of lithium-ion battery capacity was added worldwide between 2018 and 2023, powering around 40 million electric vehicles and thousands of battery storage projects. As demand for batteries continues to grow, so does the need to recover critical raw materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. The inventors' technology enables spent lithium-ion batteries to be converted directly into high-performance cathode materials for reuse in new batteries, reducing waste, resource consumption and carbon emissions.