Brunp's Yu Haijun and Xie Yinghao win European Inventor Award for turning spent batteries straight back into cathode material

CATL/Brunp battery recycling

The European Patent Office gave two Brunp researchers its 2026 award for inventors from outside its member states, plus the public-vote Popular Prize, for a recycling route that rebuilds spent battery material directly into new cathode powder instead of breaking it fully down to raw chemicals.

• Reported recovery: 99.6% of nickel, cobalt and manganese, 96.5% of lithium.
• Uses 73% less acid and alkali and cuts more than 18% of the processing steps.
• Regenerated cathode material carries a 61% lower carbon footprint than conventionally made material.
• Yu Haijun devised the approach; Xie Yinghao took it from the lab to industrial plants.