How Scrap Catalytic Converter Prices are Set
Market rates for scrap catalytic converters vary quite a bit over time and from one model to the next. This is due to several factors, the most important being the amount of platinum group metal (PGMs) content in each converter. The amount varies from one model to the next. Scrap catalytic converter prices also vary due to various business considerations, such as the processing cost and variations in how much of the PGM content the recycler can recover.
The Main Factor in Scrap Catalytic Converter Pricing
To review, modern catalytic converters perform a three-step process to scrub hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and oxides of nitrogen from vehicle exhaust. Some catalytic converters use a two-step process to clean the exhaust but only vehicles with lean-burn engines use this older design now.
Regardless of that design difference, all catalytic converters are structurally similar. The interior of a catalytic converter contains a metal or ceramic honeycomb coated with a material that holds tiny amounts of palladium, platinum, and (sometimes) rhodium. At a high enough temperature, those metals catalyze reactions that turn those exhaust gases into carbon dioxide and water. Catalytic converter scrap prices depend on the market values of those PGMs.
A catalytic converter for a car or light truck will probably have 7 to 16 grams of PGMs inside, with old models being near the upper end and newer vehicles at the lower end. Those metals are the main reason anyone buys old catalytic converters. Consider the value of 100 pieces, all using platinum only. Those 100 parts have 1,300 grams of valuable platinum or about 46 ounces. At $969 per ounce, the price on August 15, 2022, that is almost $45,000.
To make the pricing picture just a bit more complicated, hybrid converters and older cars (the mid-1970s to early 1980s) had more PGMs. Though we are talking about three or four grams more in a 1981 Honda Accord versus a 2022 Accord. Diesel particulate filters and diesel oxidation filters also have some scrap value, but you will need to do some research on them; catalytic converter scrap prices for vehicles with gasoline engines are not going to be helpful.
Because catalytic converter prices depend on those PGMs, no group of parts will be worth the same as another. Any 100-lb container of scrap copper is going to be worth the same as another. With catalytic converters, one pile of 100 parts may have 44 ounces (about 1.25 kg) of recoverable metals while the next lot has 50 ounces (about 1.42 kg). Depending on the mix of platinum, palladium, and rhodium in those parts, those six ounces can be a difference of $6,000 or more.
The steel, chromium, and aluminum in a catalytic converter have some value to recyclers, but their combined value is probably going to be trivial compared with PGMs. Compare recent scrap prices for steel and aluminum.
Whether you have one scrap catalytic converter or 500, the Group Catalyst app from Belanger helps sellers get the latest catalytic converter price information and manage their inventory.
That platinum and palladium is not useful until a business can extract them from the honeycomb in each part. The processing costs and the smelting involved all require labor and energy, which costs money. No recovery process is 100% perfect. The amount of PGMs in the catalytic converter may be much less than what the buyer can recover. A damaged core often means less of the material is recoverable by the type that part reaches a smelter. So, the real value of a piece may be based on recovering 7 grams out of the 14 in that part.
In the end, catalytic converter scrap prices reflect several aspects of the recycling business. The time to recover and sell that material introduces some risk. The near certainty of losing some of that valuable PGM content also cuts what a recycler could pay. The recycler and the smelting operation will also want to make a profit on each piece.
For these business-related reasons, a collection of scrap catalytic converters with $46,000 of PGMs may fetch less than $15,000. Therefore, almost any scrapyard or recycler will want complete catalytic converters that are relatively undamaged. If you remove the honeycomb from the casing it is impossible to know what vehicle it came from. This makes a good estimate of the value impossible. A damaged case or one that rattles may have lost some of the catalyst material, and with it much of the part’s value.
Many Factors Determine Pricing for Scrap Catalytic Converters
The valuable PGMs that make them work are the main factor in catalytic converter scrap prices. The business process of collecting, recovering, and selling the metal makes the parts worth much less than the market value of the metals in them. A mobile app that serves up a current catalytic converter price for each part, along with inventory tracking and invoicing, makes the sale process much easier. Belanger’s Group Catalyst app for iOS and Android devices makes single or bulk sales faster and simpler.
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