Closing the loop on battery manufacturing is a major piece of building a sustainable EV supply chain. Rather than letting degraded battery packs sit in scrap yards, Tesla is expanding its closed-loop recycling operations across the United States to reclaim critical raw materials before they ever reach a landfill.

Addressing its environmental goals on X, @tesla_na shared an update on how much material its recycling pipelines are currently recovering:

“Our goal is for no Tesla battery to end up in a landfill. Across our US operations, we’re recovering more than 90% of key battery materials like nickel & cobalt from cells that we recycle.”

Zero Landfill Goals and Current Processing Volume

Tesla recycles 100% of its scrapped lithium-ion batteries, sending zero units to landfills. Scrapped materials collected from factory lines, R&D labs, and end-of-life vehicles head straight to dedicated recycling facilities in Nevada and Texas. Once on site, technicians disassemble and process the battery scrap to recover more than 90% of essential metals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, returning them to the battery supply chain.

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These facilities are already handling serious volume. In 2025, the Nevada facility recycled over 3,000 metric tons of battery material, which equals roughly 9,000 Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive battery packs. The newer Texas recycling facility is expected to process another 3,000 metric tons of battery material this year.

Tesla said in its recent 2025 Impact Report that it — combined with external recycling partners — recycled 14,000 tons of batteries last year, proving that closed-loop processing can work on a commercial scale.

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Matching North American Mining Output by 2030

As recycling facilities ramp up processing capacity, the long-term goal is to match raw material extraction rates. By 2030, Tesla expects its recycled material output to rival the total output of mines across North America.

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To put that goal into context, current domestic lithium extraction remains relatively small. Existing mining operations, centered primarily around Silver Peak, Nevada, generate roughly 5,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) per year. While major extraction developments like Phase 1 of the Thacker Pass project in Nevada are slated for completion in late 2027 — aiming to add another 40,000 metric tons of battery-quality LCE annually — recycling helps reduce total reliance on new mining sites.

By processing manufacturing scrap and old vehicle packs internally, Tesla is creating a self-sustaining material pipeline that lowers battery costs and cuts supply chain emissions with every vehicle built.