What Is The Importance of Platinum in Scrap?

What is Platinum?

Platinum is a precious metal and is used in all types of applications from jewelry to electronics and even catalytic converters. Platinum is one of the most valuable precious metals in the world and because of its use in multiple spaces has always been a very coveted item to recycle.

Where to Find Scrap Platinum?

You generally will not find Platinum sitting on the side of the road as it is not that common of an item and it is worth a lot of money. If for some reason you have found it sitting on the side of the road, we would love to hear the story so we can learn about that awesome day that we are sure you had. But the most common place to find Platinum in the scrap metal world would be in catalytic converters.

Platinum along with two other precious metals called rhodium and palladium are the three metals that generally make up the insides of the catalytic converters to help exhausts cut down on the emissions. You will not be able to melt these down on your own and sell the Platinum or the other precious metals to your local scrap yard as you will only be able to sell the catalytic converter to your scrap yard and cash that in.

How to Extract Platinum?

If you’re trying to make a few extra dollars by selling the platinum by itself you will, unfortunately, be disappointed as it is a very hard material to be able to pull and refine from Catalytic Converters. You can also find Platinum in certain electronics but again you are not going to see it in a pure form but you’re going to have to find something that it is a part of.

How to Find Platinum Buyer?

People have asked us in the past if pawn shops would buy their catalytic converter’s for the platinum or their electronics and that is rarely the case. Most pawnshops only want jewelry or things that are tangible not things that are based off of potential recovery. The best bet will be to continue to sell to reputable companies that you have dealt with in the past like www.RRCats.com for catalytic converters and other solid e-scrap yards. 

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