Closing the Loop and Recovering Material from Our Batteries

August 13, 2026

Batteries are a key input to our products and typically rely on materials like lithium, nickel and cobalt, which are produced through large-scale mining operations around the world. While we engage directly with our suppliers to help ensure we source materials responsibly, we're also working to reduce our reliance on newly mined critical materials altogether.

Circularity at Scale

In 2025, Tesla recycled thousands of metric tons of battery material through in-house processing at our Gigafactories and a network of third-party recycling operators.

Wherever possible, we return these materials to our battery supply chain, refining them into components for new batteries.

"Reintegrating manufacturing scrap into production" flowchart of battery scrap recycled back into production

Our Recycling Process

At Tesla, battery recycling is divided into four phases:

  1. Scrap collection: Gathering end-of-life battery packs and manufacturing scrap across our operations.
  2. Mechanical processing to black mass: Shredding and processing that material into a concentrated mixture of valuable metals.
  3. Production of transitional materials called "intermediates": Refining black mass into materials that can be fed back into battery-grade material production.
  4. Production of new batteries: Manufacturing new cells and packs from recycled materials. 
     

Across our U.S. recycling operations, we're now recovering more than 90% of key battery materials.

Our upgraded Nevada facility processed nearly 3,000 metric tons of materials in 2025.

Our Texas facility is expected to process 3,000 metric tons of manufacturing scrap per year by the end of 2026, using a state-of-the-art dry shredding line to produce black mass for reintegration into our supply chain. It's also piloting new lithium recovery technology to support Tesla's lithium refinery, with the goal of extending closed-loop recovery for other critical metals and minerals, such as graphite, nickel and cobalt.

Recycling is one part of our broader closed-loop approach that spans lithium refining at our Gulf Coast lithium refinery, manufacturing of cathode, cell and vehicle at Gigafactory Texas and the recycling operations in Nevada and Texas.

Learn more about our battery recycling efforts in our 2025 Impact Report.

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