Catalytic converters for the purification of automotive exhaust gases make use of the special catalytic properties of the Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Platinum (Pt), Palladium (Pd), and Rhodium (Rh). On a global basis, 31% of Pt, 57% of Pd, and 84% of the Rh net demand have been used in 2002 for the manufacture of automotive catalysts. The share of secondary supply of PGMs for autocatalysts is still small. The main reason is that what we can recycle today from scrap catalysts usually comes from catalyst production more than 10 years ago and at that time total PGM usage for this application was much lower. Even it the current PGM-recycling quantities are related to the demand figures of one decade earlier we end up with a 'dynamic recycling quota' of less than 50%. So it is evident that significant PGM-losses occur and the recycling itself has to be improved in order to better make use of that mine above ground. The advantage of using this particular secondary source is that the environmental burden to recover the PGMs is much smaller, than in a real mining operation. Furthermore, our 'mine above ground' is within Europe and its deployment is independent of the few primary producers in the world. However, to be successful, some major improvements have to be achieved, the most important of which is to stop uncontrolled car exports from Europe.
Optimising the recycling of automotive catalysts
Optimierung des Recycling von Autokatalysatoren
2003
22 Seiten, 17 Bilder, 12 Quellen
Conference paper
English
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