Closing the Loop on Battery Materials

At Lime, we're constantly looking for innovative ways to reduce our environmental impact and build a more sustainable transportation ecosystem. Today, we're thrilled to announce an exciting new agreement that represents a significant step forward in our sustainability journey.

Lime has entered into an exclusive agreement with Redwood Materials, a global leader in sustainable battery recycling and circular materials recovery, to develop a circular battery recycling program across all Lime operations in the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Why This Partnership Matters

As the world's largest shared electric vehicle company, we understand the importance of responsible end-of-life management for the batteries that power our fleet. Our partnership with Redwood Materials ensures that when our e-bike and e-scooter batteries reach the end of their usable life, they don't end up as waste—instead, they become resources for the next generation of e-mobility.

Redwood Materials is the largest battery recycler in North America. The company is creating a circular supply chain to drive down the environmental footprint and cost of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. With expanding operations in Nevada and a second Battery Materials Campus under development outside Charleston, South Carolina, Redwood is scaling production to reach 100 GWh annually.

Redwood specializes in recovering critical battery materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper with impressive efficiency, reclaiming more than 95% of these valuable materials. These recovered resources are then reintroduced into the battery manufacturing process, creating a more circular supply chain.

"Through this new agreement with Redwood Materials, Lime will further its industry leadership in sustainable practices, adding greater circularity into the battery recycling and manufacturing processes," said Andrew Savage, VP for Sustainability at Lime. "This collaboration marks significant progress towards establishing a more circular supply chain, helping ensure our batteries are not only responsibly recycled once they reach their end of life, but that their materials are returned back into the battery supply chain."

Meeting a Growing Need

As micromobility adoption accelerates globally, the responsible management of battery resources becomes increasingly critical. Alexis Georgeson, VP of Government Relations and Communications at Redwood, highlights this importance: "As e-bike and e-scooter adoption continues to grow, so does the need to responsibly recycle the batteries that power them. These batteries contain valuable critical minerals that, when recovered and reused, can help build a more sustainable and resilient domestic battery supply chain."

Advancing Our Climate Commitments

This partnership aligns perfectly with Lime's 2030 net zero target, which has been validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative. We've already made significant progress, achieving a 59.5% carbon reduction in just five years from our 2019 baseline. Our annual carbon emissions report for 2024 will be released this spring.

Beyond Recycling: Second Life Applications

While this new partnership focuses on end-of-life recycling, we continue to explore innovative second-life applications for batteries that are no longer suitable for our vehicles but still contain viable cells. We've worked with companies like Gomi in the United Kingdom and VoltR in France to repurpose these cells for consumer electronics like portable speakers and battery packs.

Looking Forward

As we continue to expand our services across the globe, partnerships like this one with Redwood Materials ensure that we're not just offering sustainable transportation today—we're building the foundation for a more circular, resource-efficient future.

Together with our riders and city partners, we're creating a future where transportation is shared, affordable, and truly carbon-free—from the first mile to the last, and even beyond the lifecycle of our vehicles.

Learn more about our partner at redwoodmaterials.com.