Redwood Materials races to put recycled materials into EV batteries

Even as electric vehicles make up only a sliver of U.S. car sales, Redwood Materials anticipates a day when the availability of the batteries that power them falls short of surging demand.

The company is racing to get recycled materials into EV batteries within two years, and plans to produce cathode active material and anode copper foil that could help power as many as 1 million EVs by 2028.

"We are going around the clock, trying to get there as quick as we can," Jackson Switzer, Redwood Materials' vice president of business management and market strategy, told Automotive News. "It's all on us … the quicker we go, the quicker we can build, the quicker we can get recycled content into batteries. We are pushing ourselves as hard as we can."

Redwood has one foot strategically planted in Nevada, near EV-heavy California and its key partners, with the other in South Carolina, at the center of the country's emerging Southeast battery belt. The company plans to break ground there this year, enabling it to expand to as much as 400 gigawatt-hours annually once completed.

Additionally, Redwood received a conditional loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy in February for production of cathode active material and anode copper foil from recycled components at one of its Nevada plants.

Redwood Materials, which was founded by Tesla co-founder and current board member JB Straubel, plans to capitalize on demand for batteries and related materials as automakers vow to electrify their lineups and invest in battery factories, and as the Biden administration prioritizes a localized EV supply chain.

EV registrations rose 63 percent in the U.S. in the first quarter of the year to 257,507 vehicles, making up 7 percent of light vehicles, according to Experian.

So far, Redwood counts Panasonic, Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor North America, Volvo and Volkswagen Group of America among its customers.

Redwood recognized early on that battery recycling is only one part of a fully renewable battery production loop, while other parts of the process bring climate-damaging downsides.

Battery recycling produces materials that are typically shipped to Asia for further refinement before they can be put into a battery. Nearly all anode and cathode production for U.S. battery makers is done in Asia, the Department of Energy said. The refined material is then shipped back to the U.S. for battery cell assembly, producing an abundance of carbon emissions.

"At a systems level, we weren't actually solving the problem," Switzer said. "The United States is going to need a lot of batteries, and to build those batteries, you're going to need a lot of battery materials. That's what we're trying to really help impact."

Recycling batteries from everything from Bluetooth speakers and electric toothbrushes to power tools and EVs remains Redwood's core business, Switzer said. It will be the backbone to the company's production of cathode active material and anode copper foil — the most crucial components in EV batteries.

Redwood plans to produce 100 gigawatt-hours of cathode active material and anode copper foil, which could power 750,000 to 1 million EVs within the next five years. In a decade or so, the company is looking to scale to roughly 500 gigawatt-hours, Switzer said.

The Department of Energy in February said it would offer Redwood a $2 billion loan to support the expansion of its McCarran, Nev., campus. The company also has a plant in Carson City, Nev.

The Energy Department said Redwood's McCarran plant will be the first domestic facility to support production of anode copper foil and cathode active material in a closed-loop lithium ion battery manufacturing process by recycling end-of-life battery and production scrap.

"Onshoring the production of these components is critical to America's energy independence while ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of an advanced battery manufacturing industry here at home," the department said in a February statement.

Redwood will use the loan to build out the 100 gigawatt-hours of battery materials, along with the recycling and refining infrastructure powering that production, Switzer said.

The company plans to have its anode copper foil material in EVs by next year and its cathode active material in EVs in 2025.

Extending beyond recycling will be a cost saver, said Conrad Layson, senior alternative propulsion analyst at AutoForecast Solutions.

"Cathode powder is coming out in the recycling process anyway," he said. "It just makes a lot of sense in this arena."

Redwood aims to integrate as much recycled content as possible into new batteries — the percentage that will increase over time — but the company isn't waiting for its own recycled materials to get into cathode and anode production. In the meantime, it is sourcing some virgin material.

"We can't start from 100 percent recycled and electrify everything at the same time," said Switzer. "As batteries come on line, we will recycle them and increase that recycled content over time."

For now, Redwood works with battery makers and automakers to ensure that it responsibly sources lithium and nickel from the most sustainable mines, he added.

After Redwood collects and sorts the recycled material, it refines metals, such as nickel, cobalt and lithium, to produce cathode active material. About 30 percent of nickel and lithium is recycled.

Redwood plans to exclusively use recycled cobalt in its cathode active material this year. Switzer said two factors make that possible: The amount of cobalt needed for EV batteries diminishes as chemistries evolve, while many consumer electronic batteries have lots of cobalt that can be used for EV batteries.

The element is difficult to source without recycling. Cobalt is often the byproduct of copper and nickel mining, and a rise in demand has led to an increase in child labor and dangerous working conditions at some sites in Congo, according to numerous media reports and industry analysts.

Cobalt demand "drives a lot of our collection efforts and [is] why we continue to focus on consumer electronics," Switzer said. "It's a great source of cobalt for us."

Redwood also extracts copper foil for anodes. The copper foil is less than 10 microns, seven times thinner than human hair, Switzer said. Anode copper foil is used as a support structure that collects the electric current in the battery. Layson said its production is unique for a battery recycling company.

"Other recyclers can capture copper, but they aren't turning it back into foils at the thickness required for use in electrode manufacturing," he said.

Redwood's anode copper foil is made of 100 percent recycled copper from batteries and scraps, such as Christmas lights and plumbing parts, Switzer said.

Redwood is putting down roots near critical partners and potential buyers of that cathode and anode material.

Automakers and their battery partners are creating localized supply chains for EVs, but battery component makers aren't often part of that footprint, Switzer said.

Redwood's two Nevada campuses are near its customer, Panasonic, Tesla's battery supplier. Both are also close to California, where many end-of-life batteries are ready for recycling.

Its future campus near Charleston, S.C., will recycle and refine battery materials and produce anode copper foil. South Carolina has received a series of EV and battery factory investments from BMW, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and their suppliers.

"All of those suppliers of scrap cells will also become consumers of Redwood's finished product," Layson said.

Redwood Materials' South Carolina site sits on a large property with railroad access and the Port of Charleston nearby.

"It puts us in very close proximity to help serve them both from a recycling as well as from a product delivery, a battery materials, cathode and anode point of view," Switzer said.