- Redwood Materials, an American business aiming to recycle Lithium-ion batteries to create a circular supply chain for EV batteries, has announced a partnership with GM Ultium Cells.
- Ultium Cells is the joint battery manufacturing venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, with the resulting batteries going into new GM EVs on the Ultium EV platform.
- Battery production scrap at the Ultium Cells factories in Ohio and Tennessee is set to be recycled, with the help of Redwood.
Making EVs even greener
Redwood Materials, whose founder and CEO JB Straubel was also one of the co-founders and CTO of Tesla until 2019, notes that despite the remarkable efficiency of EV battery production, there is an average scrap rate in all EV battery production between 5 and 10 percent. This results in approximately 10,000 tonnes of scrap material annually at each battery facility. Redwood will now be recycling 100% of the scrap coming from Ultium Cells production sites, turning it into useful battery material for battery gigafactories across the US to use. General Motors is not the only OEM to reach out to Redwood for its battery recycling expertise, who don’t just help with battery production waste but battery end-of-life recycling too, with Ford, Toyota, and Volkswagen Group also partnered.
Repurposing of this waste material at Redwood’s own facility should be more sustainable, too. It says that its recycling method generates 40% less emissions than other similar facilities, while it currently has the capability to process 40,000 metric tonnes a year, equivalent to around 15-20GWh worth of battery cells, whilst its maximum capacity is continuously increasing.
