1、Battery circularityInnovation trends for a future source of critical materialsApril 2026epo.org|02BATTERY CIRCULARITYepo.org|02ContentsList of abbreviations 06List of countries and world regions 06About the European Patent Office 07About the International Energy Agency 07Executive summary 08Glossary

2、 181.Introduction 201.1 Background:Growth in EV batteries and the emerging end-of-life wave.201.2 Environmental and safety risks of disposal.231.3 Geopolitical landscape of critical battery materials.231.4 Policy context.251.4.1 Global policy approaches relevant to battery circularity.251.4.2 EU pol

3、icy relevant to battery circularity.251.4.3 Policy and innovation.281.5 Scaling and innovation.291.6 Technologies for battery circularity.301.6.1 Overview of the recycling chain.301.6.2 Intake,storage and stabilisation.301.6.3 Disassembly and mechanical pre-treatment.311.6.4 Physical separation and

4、formation of black mass.311.6.5 Black mass processing and conditioning.321.6.6 Metallurgical recovery routes .321.6.7 Direct recycling and regeneration.321.7 About this report.332.Battery circularity patenting trends 362.1 Overarching trends.362.2 Breakdown according to the stages of the battery cir

5、cularity value chain.422.3 Regional trends.442.4 Most active applicants.472.5 Focus on European startups and universities.56Contents|Executive summary|1.Introduction|2.Patenting trends|3.Conclusions|Special Focus|Annex epo.org|03BATTERY CIRCULARITYepo.org|03Special focus:Refining of critical metals

6、for batteries 603.Conclusions and outlook 70Focus on Europe:policy momentum and an evolving innovation ecosystem.71Outlook.714.Bibliography 725.Annex/Methodology 745.1 Using patent information.745.2 Methodology of this EPO technology insight report.745.3 Patent retrieval .755.4 Data sources and tool