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

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