Toyota plans to recycle batteries from old hybrids for use in new cars. Now battery components from an old first-generation Prius could end up in, say, a new Camry.
In a new move towards achieving circularity in the battery ecosystem, Toyota has joined forces with Redwood Materials to support an existing recycling agreement. The collaboration aims to establish sustainable ways to recycle car batteries from Toyota electrified vehicles that have reached the end of their useful life.
Simply put, the old Prius' battery can be used in the new electrified Crown Signia. Or at least parts of it. Expanding on an existing partnership, Toyota will now source cathode and anode copper foil from Redwood's processing operations, contributing to its own future production of automotive batteries. The partnership was announced last year.
The Japanese manufacturer expects increased demand for car battery recycling, especially as most electrified vehicles, including first-generation Prius models introduced more than two decades ago, are nearing the end of their life cycles.. Given that a significant portion of Toyota's end-of-life fleet is located in California, many of these vehicles could end up at the Redwood recycling plant in Nevada. The new ecosystem that the two companies are forming is expected to enable the recycling, recycling and repurposing of approximately 5 million work units in the coming years.
This collaboration is part of Toyota's ambitious sustainability goals. The auto giant aims to achieve carbon neutrality for its global operations by 2035 and extend the same status for its cars until 2050. An integral part of this plan – at least in North America – is the use of recycled materials in future battery production at Toyota. Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMNC) is slated to begin operations in 2025.
Redwood Materials, in turn, is expanding its Northern Nevada plant and establishing a new battery materials campus outside Charleston, South Carolina. It aims to recycle, purify and produce battery materials, targeting an annual production scale of 100 GWh. As specified in the agreement, Redwood will supply materials made from a minimum of 20 percent recycled nickel, 20 percent recycled lithium and 50 percent recycled cobalt for cathode production, and will also focus on recycled copper for anode copper foil.