1. Redwood collaborates with Ultium Cells LLC to recycle production scrap and produce critical battery materials for North American cell manufacturers at gigafactory-scale.
2. Redwood’s sustainable approach to battery material production uses significantly less energy, generates less CO2 emissions, and requires less water compared to traditional methods.
3. Redwood and Ultium Cells were selected by the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office to support domestic battery material and cell production, contributing to America’s battery supply chain and clean energy economy transition.
Redwood is a company that focuses on recycling end-of-life batteries and production scrap to create critical battery materials for North American cell manufacturers on a large scale. They have partnered with Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, to recycle production scrap from their facilities in Ohio and Tennessee. The collaboration aims to recycle cathode and anode material as well as cell scrap from Ultium Cells’ gigafactory-scale operations that produce over 80 GWh of battery cells annually.
Despite the efficient production rates in cell manufacturing, there is still a 5-10% scrap rate, resulting in a significant amount of material for Redwood to recycle. Redwood uses a sustainable approach at their Northern Nevada campus, which consumes 80% less energy, generates 70% less CO2 emissions, and requires 80% less water compared to traditional methods of processing mined ore into battery-grade materials. They operate a hydrometallurgy facility that recycles battery manufacturing scrap into critical components for cell manufacturing.
Redwood’s process has been recognized for achieving at least 40% fewer emissions than other recyclers, and it is scalable to process over 40,000 metric tons annually. Through collaborations with Ultium Cells and support from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, Redwood aims to contribute to building America’s battery supply chain for electric vehicles and a clean energy economy. Their focus is on supporting domestic battery production with a highly sustainable and scalable battery materials process.