Rivian expands Redwood Materials deal to recycle scrap and end-of-life packs

Rivian and Redwood Materials are widening a partnership that already covers second-life energy storage, Rivian said in a newsroom release dated 14 October 2026. Redwood will now recycle manufacturing battery scrap from Rivian’s plants and handle end-of-life packs from vehicles, alongside storage deployments at the automaker’s Normal, Illinois factory.

What changes

Through Rivian’s nationwide service centres, Redwood collects packs that are no longer suitable for on-road use. Each pack is assessed: some are repurposed for stationary storage at Rivian sites or elsewhere; others are recycled. The new scope adds scrap generated during manufacturing to that recycle stream.

The companies say this builds on work announced in April 2026 to deploy 10 MWh of storage made from more than 100 repurposed Rivian packs at the Illinois plant.

Why Rivian and Redwood frame it as “lifecycle”

CEO RJ Scaringe called giving packs a second life in storage “a massive unlock for the energy transition.” Redwood founder JB Straubel said packs returning to Redwood can feed both domestic grid storage and critical materials. Rivian’s release claims Redwood can recover lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper at rates exceeding 95% — a company claim, not an independent audit cited in the note.

Second-life storage can charge when power is cheap or renewables are abundant and discharge when demand peaks, easing stress on constrained grid connections that manufacturers often wait years to secure.

For owners, the practical takeaway is quieter: there is a clearer path for packs leaving service vehicles and factory scrap into US recycling and storage — if the partnership scales as described.