Shared micromobility company Lime has agreed to send batteries used in scooters and e-bikes to redwood materials. Redwood materials extract and recycle important minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper.
The agreement announced Monday makes Redwood’s material an exclusive battery recycling partner for Lime’s shared scooters and e-bikes in cities in the US, Germany and the Netherlands. The agreement does not cover all regions operated by Lime, including cities in Europe, Asia and Australia.
Lime has had other recycling partnerships in the past, particularly using Sprout through its downstream vendors. However, this is the first time a shared micromobility company has directly connected with battery recyclers in North America, allowing materials to be processed directly and returned to the supply chain for recovery.
Founded by former Tesla CFO JB Straubel, Redwood Material, based in Carson City, Nevada, recovers material from the battery when it is no longer available. Once collected and recycled, the materials are reintroduced in the battery manufacturing process. This closed-loop manufacturing system can reduce the demand for mining and refined minerals, but is at the heart of the redwood materials business model.
This effort is also in line with Lime’s own sustainability goals. Lime aims to decarbonize its business by 2030. The company is making progress in reducing emissions in the range of 1, 2 and 3, in 59.5% over five years since the baseline era in 2019. LIME is scheduled to report its carbon emissions for 2024 in May.
“This collaboration has made great strides towards establishing a more circular supply chain, ensuring that batteries are responsibly recycled once they reach the end of the day.
Lime also has a partnership between UK Gomi and Voltr from France and other European countries, where they harvest these viable battery cells for “Second Life” applications, such as home appliances such as portable speakers and battery packs.
Redwood Materials has agreements with other micromobility companies, including Lyft and Rad Power Bikes, specializing in recycling E-bike and Scooter batteries. Redwood, which raised more than $2 billion in private funding, announced earlier this month that it had opened an R&D center in San Francisco.