Toyota plans 'circular ecosystem' for recycling EV batteries

Tuesday, 28 June 2022

Toyota North America has teamed up with Redwood Materials to set up a closed-loop recycling operation for EV batteries.

Toyota has become the latest carmaker to team up with Redwood Materials, a battery recycling company started by former Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel.

Due to its long term commitment to hybrid powertrains, Toyota is one of the first manufacturers to start accumulating end-of-life batteries, with the first Prius going on sale back in 1997, and its latest effort with Redwood aims to create a sustainable, closed-loop battery ecosystem for its electrified powertrains.

Toyota’s North American arm has teamed up with Redwood materials to focus not only on the collection, testing and recycling of batteries into raw materials to create a sustainable supply chain, but also aims to develop second-life opportunities for remanufactured and repurposed batteries by “leveraging battery health screening tools and empowering data from its vehicles.”

In a press release late last week, the companies said they will “explore a series of end-of-life battery solutions for Toyota’s proposed battery ecosystem.”

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JB Straubel (left) and Christopher Yang (right) discuss the battery recycling process.

Initially focussing on the collection, testing and recycling of batteries, the companies will then look to expand into other areas such as battery health screening and data management, remanufacturing and battery material supply throughout North America.

“We are excited to be working with Redwood Materials to identify solutions for our electrified powertrains at the end-of-life that contributes to our vision of creating a sustainable, circular battery ecosystem,” said Christopher Yang, group vice president of Business Development at Toyota.

“We are committed to developing sustainable solutions that allow our batteries to provide value beyond the initial lifecycle in an electrified vehicle. This also contributes to our carbon neutrality goals and our mission to build a more sustainable world for all.”

Straubel launched Redwood Materials with the aim of driving down the environmental footprint and cost of lithium-ion batteries by offering large-scale sources of anode and cathode materials produced from recycled batteries.

According to Redwood, it receives more than 6 GWh of end-of-life batteries annually for recycling, which are then refined and remanufactured into critical battery materials. The company plans to ramp production of anode and cathode components in the US to 100 GWh annually by 2025, which it says is enough to produce more than one million electric vehicles a year.

Together, Toyota and Redwood say they will investigate ways to “seamlessly incorporate battery recycling through domestic battery materials manufacturing into Toyota’s battery production strategy”, beginning with North America.

“Toyota helped pave the way for clean transportation with the introduction of the Prius more than 20 years ago,” said Straubel.

“Their commitment not only to sell millions of electrified vehicles this decade but to ensure their circularity into the future is a critical step for electrification. Redwood and Toyota’s shared vision to drive down the environmental footprint and cost of transportation will continue to accelerate the adoption and access to electric vehicles.”

Redwood already has similar deals in place with Ford, Volvo and Tesla, as well as with Amazon and battery makers Panasonic in Nevada and Envision AESC in Tennessee. Ford and Amazon are also investors in Redwood Materials.

General Motors and its battery partner LG Energy Solution announced a similar partnership last year with startup Li-Cycle to recycle battery scrap material from Ultium Cells, the GM-LG joint venture that is building battery plants in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan in the USA.