BASF boosts precious metals recycling capabilities

An operator at the Seneca, South Carolina, site recycles precious metals from a scrapped catalytic converter. The site serves as BASF’s global production hub for the recycling of end-of-life automotive and chemical catalysts, allowing for the recovery and recycling of the precious metals contained inside. 

BASF Corp., headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, has completed the installation and startup
of new high-performance equipment at its Seneca, South Carolina, precious metals recycling operation. The company says the expansion will more than double the plant’s production capacity.

The Seneca site serves as BASF’s global production hub for recycling end-of-life automotive and chemical catalysts, allowing for the recovery and recycling of platinum group metals (PGMs.)

“Our investment in this high-performance equipment allows us to increase precious metals recycling at the Seneca site to meet growing market demand,” says David Freidinger, BASF vice president, precious metals recycling and refining. “This also supports our strategy to offer superior quality in our recycling services.”

Automotive catalytic converters are one of the largest industrial applications for PGMs, accounting for more than half of the world’s annual mining output, the company says. When a catalytic converter is scrapped, BASF says the precious metals contained inside can be recycled, creating a sustainable secondary supply source for such limited global resources.

BASF is a global manufacturer of precious metal products that are used in a variety of industrial applications, including automotive catalytic converters. 

BASF Corp. is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than
17,500 employees in North America and had sales of $16.2 billion in 2016.