Platinum recycled from cars

As global demand for platinum group metals (PGMs) rises, so too does the cost of extracting it. With usage of catalytic converters increasing globally, automotive manufacturers are in a bind as to where to obtain PGMs. Recycling catalytic converters is an option. However, the current recycling process takes around six months.

Published: 16 May 2014

The Canadian company Pro-Or has come up with a new chlorination process to recover PGMs from recycled automobile catalytic converters that takes less than eight weeks at its small-scale prototype plant. The time required could be shortened to just one or two weeks when it moves to a larger facility.