Dive Brief:
- BMW of North America and battery recycling firm Redwood Materials are partnering to recycle end-of-life lithium-ion batteries from the automaker’s hybrid and electric vehicles, the companies announced in a press release Thursday.
- Redwood Materials will work directly with BMW’s network of nearly 700 locations in the U.S., including dealerships and distribution centers, to recover critical minerals from used batteries, such as nickel, cobalt, lithium and copper.
- The partnership aims to create a closed-loop circular value chain for lithium-ion batteries in the U.S. Redwood Materials aims to return 95% to 98% of these critical minerals back to the battery supply chain.
Dive Insight:
Sales of electrified vehicles continue to grow overall, albeit more slowly than some automakers had anticipated. So as automakers look to produce more EVs and hybrid vehicles in the near future, many are exploring ways to make battery production more sustainable, which includes boosting their recycling efforts.
Unlike fossil fuel vehicles, many of the key critical raw materials used in battery production are not consumed or lost over a battery’s service life, according to Redwood Materials. Therefore, these materials can be recovered and reused to produce new batteries and contribute to a more sustainable circular supply chain.
“The transition to electric mobility presents a tremendous opportunity to rethink how we manage the batteries that power our clean energy future,” Cal Lankton, chief commercial officer at Redwood Materials, said in a press release. “Our partnership with BMW of North America ensures responsible end-of-life battery management that will improve the environmental footprint of lithium-ion batteries, help decrease cost and, in turn, increase access and adoption of electric vehicles.”
Redwood Materials currently operates a recycling facility outside of Reno, Nevada, where battery components are refined and manufactured. A second facility is currently under construction in Charleston, South Carolina. It will be located near BMW Group’s Plant Spartanburg, which is the automaker’s largest global production facility.
In addition to recovering critical raw materials from batteries, Redwood Materials says its processes have a significantly smaller environmental impact. The company cited a Stanford University study that found its recycling process reduces energy by 80%, CO2 emissions by 70%, and water use by 80% compared to conventional mining and other battery recycling processes.
BMW joins several other automakers in working with Redwood Materials on various battery recycling initiatives in the U.S., including General Motors and LG Energy Solution joint venture Ultium Cells, Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Volvo Cars. The efforts are part of a global trend to make EV batteries more sustainable.
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by Tesla co-founder and former chief technology officer J.B. Straubel, who still serves on the electric automaker’s board of directors. In February 2023, the startup received a $2 billion conditional loan commitment from the Department of Energy to expand its battery recycling capacity in the U.S. to support the growing EV market.
