Redwood Materials Secures Partnership With Ultium Cells

CARSON CITY, Nevada – Redwood Materials, a company that repurposes end-of-life battery scrap and raw materials, has established a partnership with Ultium Cells LLC to recycle production materials from that company’s Lordstown plant and a second operation in Spring Hill, Tenn. 

Nevada-based Redwood announced that it would specifically recycle anode and cathode materials and battery cell scrap from the two plants and serve a third plant under construction in Michigan. 

Ultium is a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution and produces electric-vehicle battery cells for GM’s EV portfolio.  Ultium’s first plant in Lordstown officially began production two years ago, and Spring Hill began operations late last year.

Redwood said that it would receive most of the battery scrap from the plants’ manufacturing processes. With this latest collaboration, Redwood now has contracts with most of North America’s battery cell manufacturers, the company said.

Battery cell manufacturing still experiences between a 5% and 10% scrap rate on average. This equates to 10,000 tons of material annually for Redwood to recycle and remanufacture into critical battery components for cell manufacturing.

Redwood operates a battery material production operation at a campus in northern Nevada, the company noted. Redwood’s hydrometallurgy facility is the first commercial-scale nickel mine to open in the United States and recycles battery manufacturing scrap into raw nickel and cobalt.  It is also the only commercial-scale source of lithium supply to come online in decades, the company said. 

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