Lime Partners with Redwood Materials for Scooter & E-Bike Battery Recycling

Lime Partners with Redwood Materials for Battery Recycling

Lime, a leading shared micromobility provider, has established a partnership with Redwood Materials to facilitate the recycling of batteries from its scooters and e-bikes.

Extracting Critical Minerals

This collaboration will focus on the extraction and recycling of vital minerals contained within the batteries, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper.

Geographic Scope of the Agreement

Redwood Materials will serve as Lime’s exclusive battery recycling partner for shared scooters and e-bikes operating in the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands.

It’s important to note that this agreement does not encompass all of Lime’s operational regions, which also include locations across Europe, Asia, and Australia.

A Shift Towards Direct Recycling

Previously, Lime utilized recycling partnerships through vendors like Sprout. However, this new arrangement represents the first direct relationship with a North American battery recycler.

This direct relationship ensures materials are processed for recovery and reintegrated into the supply chain.

Redwood Materials’ Closed-Loop System

Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla CFO JB Straubel and based in Carson City, Nevada, specializes in recovering materials from end-of-life batteries.

These recovered materials are then reintroduced into the battery manufacturing process, creating a closed-loop system designed to lessen the reliance on mineral mining and refining.

Alignment with Lime’s Sustainability Goals

This initiative directly supports Lime’s commitment to decarbonizing its operations by 2030.

The company has already achieved a 59.5% reduction in Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions over the past five years, measured against a 2019 baseline, with 2024 results expected in May.

Statements on the Partnership

Andrew Savage, VP for Sustainability at Lime, emphasized the importance of this collaboration in establishing a circular supply chain.

He stated that the partnership ensures responsible battery recycling and the return of materials into the battery supply chain.

Expanding Battery Lifecycles

In addition to recycling, Lime collaborates with Gomi in the U.K. and VoltR in France and other European countries.

These partnerships focus on repurposing viable battery cells for “second life” applications, such as portable speakers and battery packs.

Redwood Materials’ Broader Industry Involvement

Redwood Materials has also secured recycling agreements with other prominent micromobility companies, including Lyft, Rad Power Bikes, and Specialized.

Having raised over $2 billion in private funding, Redwood recently opened a new research and development center in San Francisco.