As global battery demand continues to surge, the number of end-of-life batteries from electric vehicles alone is expected to grow from 1.2 million in 2030 to 14 million by 2040. Battery circularity technologies enable the reuse and recycling of these batteries and, as with battery technologies more generally, Asia currently leads the way. At the same time, there has been significant growth in European innovations. Combined with recent EU policy initiatives to foster industrial investment and targeted scaling, this offers opportunities to diversify supply chains, achieve greater sustainability and strengthen technological sovereignty, as the clean-energy transition enters a new phase of development.
The latest technology insight report by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) presents a comprehensive analysis of innovation in battery circularity, covering the collection and sorting of used batteries as well as recycling, recovery and repurposing technologies. As battery circularity is intended to reduce dependency on critical materials that must first be mined and refined, a section of the report investigates the innovation landscape surrounding battery metal refining too.
“Innovation in battery circularity technologies is key to securing resources, strengthening competitiveness and reducing environmental impact,” said EPO President António Campinos. “As this field becomes increasingly important in global resource systems, regions that combine strong industrial ecosystems, supportive policy frameworks and access to recycling feedstock will be well positioned to lead the circular battery economy. Europe brings many of these elements together, with a diverse innovation ecosystem and policy initiatives that provide a solid foundation for the development of circular battery value chains.”
“In the age of electricity, batteries have become a cornerstone of energy security and industrial competitiveness, but their full value will only be realised if countries build strong circular systems around them,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “Accelerating innovation in recycling and reuse can ease pressure on critical mineral supply chains, reduce environmental impacts and create new economic opportunities. Europe has important strengths to build on, and this report highlights how targeted innovation and policy support can help position it at the forefront of a sustainable battery economy,”
Drawing on two decades of global patent data, the report highlights emerging trends, leading innovators and the potential of battery circularity to reduce Europe’s reliance on imported raw materials. It examines patenting activity across 24 technologies, based on around 16 000 inventions and nearly 4 000 international patent families (IPFs). The report is accompanied by an update to the EPO’s clean energy platform, which now features a section dedicated to battery circularity. Also, the EPO’s Deep Tech Finder, which blends patent information and business intelligence to reveal emerging European players in multiple technology fields, was updated with further profiles of startups and universities active across the battery recycling value chain.
Patenting related to battery circularity started to surge in 2017, the same year that global sales of electric cars broke the one million barrier for the first time. Since then, IPFs have grown at a compound annual rate of 42% for battery circularity, compared with 16% for rechargeable battery manufacturing and just 2% across all technology fields.
In 2023, Asian companies accounted for 63% of battery circularity IPFs, with Brunp, the recycling subsidiary of the world’s largest battery manufacturer CATL, overtaking earlier leaders such as Toyota, LG and Sumitomo. European innovators also continue to see significant growth across the value chain, including in the most patent-active areas: the collecting of used batteries and the recovery of metals through chemical transformation. While globally, automotive companies tend to specialise in collection and mining firms in chemical transformation, China’s Brunp and Korea’s LG stand out for their activity across all areas.
Since 2020, China’s share of IPFs in battery metal refining has matched that of the United States. Meanwhile, China’s national patent filings in this area have risen from about 10% of all national and international filings globally in the early 2000s to around 70% of these filings in the five years to 2023. A similar concentration is seen in battery circularity, where China’s share of IPFs increased from 5% to 29% between 2013 and 2023. During the same period, Japanese and Korean players sustained a significant share of IPFs in this area, while Europe’s share slipped slightly – from 22% to 21% – and contributions from Australia, Canada and the United States remain limited.
European applicants are particularly active in collection and chemical transformation, with a focus on areas such as remote handling technologies (34% of IPFs), as well as isolation and immobilisation (30%) and hydrometallurgical extraction following pyrolytic pre-treatment (26%). This focus reflects Europe’s potential to manage growing volumes of used batteries. Major European players are also active in technologies for transforming recycled materials into new battery components. They include Umicore, Europe’s largest battery recycler, BASF and public research organisations such as the CEA, one of France’s top energy sector applicants.
Scaling and innovation remain essential for Europe to reduce recycling costs, improve efficiency and overcome current challenges such as fragmented waste streams, heterogeneous battery designs and limited automation. Meanwhile, an increasingly coherent policy framework is already in place. Recent initiatives such as the Industrial Accelerator Act, RESourceEU Action Plan and Battery Booster Facility, as well as the Batteries Regulation of 2023, aim to strengthen industrial capacity and support local production and integrated circular value chains. In this context, Europe’s evolving policy framework, combined with its diverse research and industrial base as well as emerging startups, provides promising foundations for success, if effectively aligned with targeted industrial investment. To help identify where support is most needed, the EPO Observatory’s Data Desk enables EPO patent data to be transformed into actionable intelligence. The beta release of the Data Desk features a detailed cartography of energy storage technologies, enabling in-depth analysis of the entire field. The data in this beta version will be fully updated in due course and additional mappings covering other critical technologies will be added in future updates.
The EPO provides several technology platforms that make it easier for scientists and researchers to explore Espacenet, the world's largest, freely accessible single source of patent information. Drawing on the expertise of patent examiners from the EPO and national patent offices, the clean energy platform has now been enriched with battery circularity technologies, providing 24 new searchable technology areas. Further, our free Deep Tech Finder tool has been updated to include the profiles of nearly 60 European startups and universities that have sought patent protection for inventions in these areas since 2006. The updated tool also features improved navigation and extended coverage of startups across all technology fields.