A Nevada startup looking to build a major electric vehicle battery recycling operation is starting off by processing batteries from consumer electronics.
Carson City, Nev.-based Redwood Materials recently raised $40 million to fund its efforts to develop a battery recycling process to supply the electric vehicle market, according to a recent profile in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
According to the article, Redwood is “honing its processes by working on batteries from consumer electronics such as cellphones, which are smaller and easier to handle compared with the large packs that come from cars.”
The company, which was founded by a former Tesla executive who was involved with developing battery technology for the car manufacturer, is also interested in processing consumer electronics beyond the current test stage. In the article, a Panasonic executive said the company is working with Redwood to see if its recycled materials can be refined to be used in new Panasonic batteries.
On its website, Redwood Materials says it has an opportunity “to apply our technology at scale to recover materials from small consumer devices in the same way that we recover materials from EV batteries.”
