July 6, 2026 – A team from CATL’s recycling subsidiary Brunp Recycling made history by claiming two top honors at this year’s European Inventor Award hosted by the European Patent Office (EPO), as shared via CATL’s official WeChat channel.
Yu Haijun and Xie Yinghao, core researchers at Brunp Recycling, took home both the Non-EPO Member State Award and the Public Choice Award for their groundbreaking innovations in power battery recycling technology. This Chinese research group stands as the very first winner to secure both categories since the launch of the prestigious competition.
Co-founded in 2006 jointly by the EPO and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, the European Inventor Award ranks among Europe’s most authoritative innovation accolades. It was created to honor outstanding individuals and teams that deliver viable technical solutions to pressing worldwide challenges.
CATL has previously earned recognition at the same event. Back in 2023, Wu Kai, the firm’s Chief Scientist, and his research crew received the Non-EPO Member State Award for their pivotal advancements boosting the safety performance of lithium-ion batteries.
Founded in 2005, Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. operates three integrated business segments covering battery recycling, phosphorus material processing, and nickel-cobalt material production. The firm’s proprietary DRT directional recycling technical system successfully addresses a long-standing industry bottleneck: efficient material recovery from spent power batteries, placing it at the forefront of the global waste battery recycling sector.
