Since 2017, international patent families in battery circularity have grown at an annual rate of 42%!
A new European Patent Office and International Energy Agency (IEA) report shows that inventions for battery reuse and recycling have increased more than seven-fold over the last decade.
That is far above rechargeable battery production at 16% and all technical fields combined at 2%.
To me, this is a clear signal.
For a long time, the focus was on making batteries better. The current focus is about making sure their materials do not go to waste.
Technologies for collecting, sorting and safely disassembling batteries, as well as recovering metals and enabling repurposing, reuse and recycling, are becoming strategic in their own right.
Asia currently leads much of this patent activity, especially China, Japan and Korea. But Europe is far from absent.
European applicants are active in areas such as collection technologies and chemical transformation, including hydrometallurgical extraction and technologies for handling used batteries safely.
The challenge for Europe is to turn inventions into factories, processes and supply chains.
We have a growing waste stream, strong research institutions, established industrial players and an increasingly supportive policy framework.
But we also face practical challenges: fragmented battery designs, heterogeneous waste streams, limited automation and high recycling costs.
For companies active in batteries, recycling, automation or industrial equipment, the IP landscape around battery circularity is becoming increasingly relevant.
Not only to protect their own innovations, but also to understand where competitors are moving and where future bottlenecks may arise.
