Redwood Materials, the battery recycling company founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, has inaugurated its first European facility near Frankfurt, Germany. The €350 million plant is designed to process 50,000 tonnes of battery material annually, producing cathode and anode precursors for direct supply to European gigafactories.
Closed-Loop Supply Chain
The Frankfurt facility establishes the first trans-Atlantic closed-loop battery supply chain, receiving end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap from European automakers and returning refined cathode active material for use in new cells. The process recovers 95% of critical minerals including lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper.
“Europe needs domestic recycling capacity to meet its Battery Regulation obligations. This facility closes the loop between end-of-life management and new battery production on a single continent.”—JB Straubel, CEO, Redwood Materials
