Redwood Materials, a company specializing in lithium-ion battery recycling, has opened a new research and development (R&D) center in San Francisco. The expansion follows the company’s recent growth, including partnerships with Toyota, Panasonic, and General Motors, as well as the construction of a new factory in South Carolina and an acquisition in Europe.
The 15,000-square-foot facility, located in San Francisco’s Design District, will focus on advancing technologies across the full battery lifecycle. According to Colin Campbell, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Redwood Materials, the center will support engineers working on various aspects of the battery ecosystem, including chemical engineering, cathode science, software, and electrical engineering.
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“We had a really good year, and we had great revenue,” Campbell said. “And what’s limiting our ability to expand the engineering team is hiring. We just need to expand the aperture of where we can hire from. And San Francisco was sort of a logical place for a bunch of different reasons.”
Campbell noted that the Bay Area offers a strong talent pool of hardware and software engineers, which is critical to the company’s growth. Redwood Materials, which generated $200 million in revenue in 2024, has already made progress in recycling key battery materials such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt. However, the company is aiming to build a comprehensive battery ecosystem that includes refining, remanufacturing, and extending battery life.
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The R&D center is expected to employ approximately 50 engineers when fully operational. Currently, a small team is working at the site. One of the center’s focuses will be on developing new machinery for Redwood’s factories. Campbell explained that building factories in the U.S. is challenging due to the lack of domestic industrial capacity for cost-effective, novel machinery. “Novel process equipment engineering is a big piece of it,” he said.
The center will also work on battery diagnostic technologies, which Campbell believes could improve the efficiency of the company’s recycling operations. “Even if it’s not a major part of the business, it’s the right thing to do for this ecosystem,” Campbell said, highlighting the potential benefits of diagnosing battery packs to determine their viability for recycling.