BMW of North America and Redwood Materials have partnered to recycle lithium-ion batteries from all-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and mild hybrid BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, and BMW Motorrad vehicles in the U.S.

According to a news release, Redwood Materials will work directly with BMW’s network of nearly 700 dealerships, distribution centers, and other facilities across the county to recover end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and ensure critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, lithium, and copper are recycled and refined.

Ultimately, the OEM plans to return 95-98% of the critical minerals to the battery supply chain to build increasingly sustainable EVs.

The materials inside a battery are nearly infinitely recyclable and are not fully consumed or lost when used in vehicles.

Redwood’s processes have a significantly smaller environmental impact than conventional mining or other recycling technologies, reducing energy by 80%, CO2 emissions by 70%, and water by 80%, according to the news release.

“Together with Redwood Materials, BMW is laying the groundwork for the creation of a fully circular battery supply chain in the U.S.,” said Denise Melville, BMW of North America head of sustainability, in the release. “We have said before that the future of BMW was electric, digital, and circular, and this agreement brings us a step closer to meeting that goal.”

Redwood Materials currently operates a campus in Reno, Nevada where battery components are recycled, refined, and manufactured. A second campus is under construction in Charleston, South Carolina, not far from BMW’s largest plant in the world, Plant Spartanburg, as well as Plant Woodruff. At least six fully electric models and their high-voltage battery packs will be assembled there before the end of the decade, the release says. BMW’s battery cell manufacturing partner, AESC, is also nearby in Florence, South Carolina.

“The transition to electric mobility presents a tremendous opportunity to rethink how we manage the batteries that power our clean energy future”, said Cal Lankton, Redwood Materials’ chief commercial officer, in the 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 has also signed similar recycling partnerships with Toyota, Ford, Volvo, and Volkswagen.

A 2022 New York Times article states that Redwood produces battery material from recovered or mined metals including scrap from a battery plant run by Panasonic and Tesla.

However, because EV batteries can last up to 20 years, Redwood doesn’t have enough material to create it out of recycled metals fully — it is still forced to depend on mined resources, according to the article.

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