- Redwood Materials is building the largest battery recycling operation in North America.
- The company, led by Tesla cofounder JB Straubel, is rapidly expanding.
- See how old batteries are processed at Redwood's 300-acre campus east of Reno, Nevada.
Redwood Materials, run by Tesla cofounder JB Straubel, is building the biggest battery recycling operation in North America.
If you've ever handed old laptops or smartphones to a recycling center, it's likely they ended up on a giant lot in front of Redwood Materials' 300-acre campus.
I visited the company in March and got a tour around a network of vast buildings in the high desert east of Reno, Nevada, where Redwood is still building and expanding rapidly.
This was the view as I drove up to the campus entrance.
A LOT of Teslas were parked outside, charging away.
I took a little selfie before heading inside to meet the Redwood crew.
The check-in area is powered by… you guessed it, a battery.
Employees and visitors can even drop off old batteries.
The company's main office is cavernous. There's a lot more room for more employees!
Redwood's offices are named after things that go in batteries, such as nickel, manganese, and lithium.
I had to wear a hard hat and protective glasses for the tour.
My guide, Adam Kirby from Redwood Materials, wore the same gear. He looked better.
Batteries wait to be recycled in front of the Redwood Materials main building.
Here, I try to look manly in front of very large, complex battery-recycling machinery.
This is where Redwood filters and cleans volatile organic compounds released by the initial recycling stage.
I met Hiromu Sugiyama, director of battery materials technology at Redwood Materials.
Redwood is making a substance known as CAM, a valuable part of EV batteries.
After visiting the chemistry lab, we drove past a giant CAM manufacturing facility being built on the Redwood campus.
This is a view from the other side of the CAM facility. There's room for several more of these buildings!
