Lime Partners with Redwood Materials to Recycle E-Bike and Scooter Batteries
Lime, the world’s largest bike and scooter-sharing company, is taking a big step toward sustainability. The company just announced a new partnership with Redwood Materials to recycle the lithium-ion batteries that power its fleet.
On average, Lime’s e-bike and e-scooter batteries last around 500 charge cycles — that’s about five to seven years of use. When they finally reach the end of their lifespan, they’ll be shipped off to Redwood’s state-of-the-art recycling facility in Nevada. There, Redwood begins by salvaging parts like connectors, wires, and plastics, ensuring nothing usable goes to waste.
What remains goes through an advanced chemical process, where valuable metals like nickel, cobalt, and copper are extracted and refined. Rather than letting these materials sit idle, Redwood transforms them into high-quality components ready to be used in new EV batteries. The recovery rates are impressive too, with Redwood claiming they can reclaim around 95–98% of these critical materials.
That kind of efficiency definitely caught Lime’s attention. It’s one of the reasons they chose Redwood for this recycling effort, which will initially cover Lime’s operations in the US, Germany, and the Netherlands. Considering Lime runs about 270,000 shared vehicles across 30 countries, this is a major commitment to keeping materials in circulation.
Andrew Savage, Lime’s head of sustainability, explained the mindset behind the move:
“We’re in shared micromobility. So part of what we do, in essence, is a circular play. Circularity of downstream, end-of-life batteries is quite similar. We want to ensure that if a battery is no longer available for moving people around, we can get it back into the supply chain for its highest and best use.”
Redwood Materials isn’t new to this game. The company, founded by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel in 2017, has become a major force in battery recycling. They’re already working with big names like Ford, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, GM, Amazon, Lyft, Rad Power Bikes, and Specialized, not to mention handling scrap from Tesla’s own production lines.
You might think e-bike and scooter batteries are too small to make much of a difference, but the numbers add up fast. Each battery holds about 0.5 kWh, while an electric car battery averages around 65 kWh. According to Alexis Georgeson, Redwood’s VP for government relations, recycling about 130 of these “medium-format” batteries provides enough material for one full EV battery.
“We recycled 20 gigawatt-hours worth of material just in 2024,” she said. “That’s enough to produce another 250,000 EVs. And that material came from a mix of production scrap, small consumer electronics, medium formats like these bikes and scooters, and large EV packs.”
Right now, Redwood is focusing heavily on scaling production of cathodes — the part of the battery that accounts for about 60% of its total cost. While they’ve already started delivering anode copper foil to partners like Panasonic, their sights are set on expanding cathode manufacturing to meet growing demand.
For Lime and Redwood, this collaboration isn’t just about recycling. It’s about rethinking the life cycle of micromobility and making sure every battery gets a second chance. Step by step, ride by ride, they’re helping to close the loop on battery waste.
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Kristina is not just an enthusiast but a true authority on electric bikes. Nestled in the coastal beauty of Virginia, Kristina has found the perfect backdrop for her passion for electric biking. As a dedicated wife and homeschooling mom, her life revolves around family, faith, and the thrill of adventure.
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