The US has only about 7% of the global battery recycling capacity. China has 80%. How can the US compete when China has such a head start and so much lower labor costs? There's an inherent benefit, an economic benefit, an industrialization benefit to locally reprocessing these materials once they're in a region. It's part of why at Redwood, we're focused on linking recycling with the material manufacturing.
Batteries are a critical part of the transition away from fossil fuels. From electric vehicles to grid scale storage for wind and solar, demand for batteries is expected to grow 500% by 2030. In order to meet that demand, we’re going to need a lot more batteries. And while companies like JB Straubel’s Redwood Materials are building capacity for recycling, for now that means a lot more mining. How do we build a battery supply chain that meets demand and reduces harm?
This episode is underwritten by ClimateWorks.
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