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

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 productio