BMW North America and Redwood Materials* announced today a partnership to recycle lithium-ion batteries from electric, plug-in hybrid, and mild hybrid BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, and BMW Motorrad in the U.S. The partnership is said to demonstrate a shared commitment to sustainability as the next step towards creating a closed-loop circular value chain for lithium-ion batteries in the U.S.

“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, Head of Sustainability, BMW of North America. “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 will work directly with BMW Group’s extensive network of ~700 locations in the U.S., including dealerships, distribution centers, and other facilities to recover end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and ensure critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, lithium, and copper are recycled and refined.

With time, 95% – 98% of these critical minerals will be returned to the battery supply chain to build increasingly sustainable electric vehicles. The materials inside of a battery are nearly infinitely recyclable and are not consumed or lost in their lifetime of usage in the vehicle. Additionally, 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%, BMW said in a release.