⁍ Tesla co-founder J.B. Straubel wants to build his startup Redwood Materials into the world’s top battery recycling company.

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⁍ With production of electric vehicles and batteries about to explode, Straubel says his ultimate goal is to ‘make a material impact on sustainability, at an industrial scale

– With production of electric vehicles and batteries about to explode, Tesla co-founder JB Straubel says his ultimate goal is to “make a material impact on sustainability, at an industrial scale.” So far, Straubel’s startup, Redwood Materials, has recycled more than 1 terawatt-hours worth of battery scrap from Tesla’s Nevada gigafactory—enough to power more than 10,000 Tesla cars, reports Reuters. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last month he was looking at recycling batteries to supplement the supply of raw materials from mining as Tesla escalates vehicle production. At the company’s Battery Day in late September, Musk said he was looking at recycling batteries to supplement the supply of raw materials from mining as Tesla escalates vehicle production. Redwood’s partnership with Panasonic started late last year with a pilot operation to recover materials at Redwood’s recycling facilities in nearby Carson City, according to Celina Mikolajczak, vice president of battery technology at Panasonic Energy of North America. ‘People underestimate what recycling can do for the electric vehicles industry. This could have a huge impact on raw material prices and output in the future,’ Mikolajczak said. Straubel’s broader plan is to dramatically reduce mining of raw materials such as nickel, copper, and cobalt over several decades by building out a circular or “closed loop” supply chain that recycles and recirculates materials retrieved from end-of-life vehicle and grid storage batteries and from cells scrapped during manufacturing.