Redwood Materials partners with Isuzu Commercial Truck

Redwood Materials, headquartered in Carson City, Nevada, has begun working with Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc., Anaheim, California, making the company Redwood’s first original equipment manufacturer collaboration in the medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicle segment.

Redwood says the partnership reinforces its commitment to electrification across all aspects of transportation. 

Redwood will support Isuzu operations in the U.S. and Canada, managing the responsible recycling of cells, modules and battery packs from a variety of Isuzu locations, including dealerships, service centers, R&D facilities and vehicle assembly plants. 

Isuzu has been providing commercial trucks for more than 30 years, with more than 300 dealerships across North America. The latest Isuzu advancement in electrification, the NRR-EV, offers fleet operators a versatile, medium-duty electric truck with multiple battery configurations—from 60 kilowatt hours up to 180 kilowatt hours—making it a practical and scalable solution for commercial fleets, Redwood says.

When asked the number of batteries the company is expecting to handle for Isuzu annually, Sonja Koch, senior public affairs & consumer program manager at Redwood Materials tells Recycling Today, “We’re not disclosing specific partnership details, however, Redwood received and recycled 20 GWh [gigawatt hours] of material in 2024 alone (enough to build 250,000 EVs).” 

When asked if Redwood would be supplying recycled materials to Isuzu or its suppliers, she says, “Redwood recycles lithium-ion batteries to recover and refine between 95-98 percent of critical minerals—including nickel, cobalt, lithium and copper. Additionally, we manufacture battery components, cathode active material, which we supply to battery manufacturers across the U.S. for new cell production. By integrating recycled materials into domestic battery manufacturing, Redwood is helping to build a more sustainable and circular supply chain. However, this arrangement with Isuzu is specific to recycling.” 

The collaboration also highlights the growing role of South Carolina in the future of clean transportation, Redwood says. The company is building one of the country’s largest battery materials campuses in Charleston, South Carolina, while Isuzu recently announced plans for a new vehicle production base in Greenville County, South Carolina. These long-term commitments to the region support the development of a sustainable and domestically integrated EV supply chain, the company adds.

Koch says, according to The Work Truck Association research, approximately 32 million commercial vehicles are on the road in North America. Roughly 10 million are medium-duty vehicles, while 3 million are heavy-duty/semitrucks, according to TruckInfo.net.

While electric trucks remain relatively uncommon, in 2023, U.S. companies and organizations rapidly grew their medium and heavy-duty electric vehicle fleets, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. More than 10,000 electric trucks were deployed that year, resulting in more than 12,894 Class 2B to Class 8 vehicles, ranging from step-up vans to tractor-trailers, being on the road.