What makes catalytic converters worth money

Catalytic converters exist on any vehicle that has a combustion engine, even hybrid cars. The good news is that on a hybrid, the catalytic converters usually last longer. The bad news? Thieves looking for catalytic converters love targeting hybrids for the same reason. They know that on a hybrid, especially a newer model, the converters will be in much better condition and therefore worth more money when recycled. So, how much can you or the thieves get for scrapping a catalytic converter?

Above all, it depends on how much of the different precious metals exist in the converter. The catalytic converters on some car models are worth more than others. As mentioned earlier, recycling catalytic converters from hybrid vehicles will probably pay better.

Just like any other commodity, the value of precious metals fluctuates daily. As a result, the money that a recycler might pay you for your catalytic converter might also be different from one day to another.

By Ray Hasbollah. What is a catalytic converter? Why are catalytic converters valuable? But the increased value since the beginning of of the PGM group of metals has led to the catalytic converter prices really increasing over that same time. PGMs are very valuable and coveted in the refining world.

You will see a much quicker turnaround on the recycling side of things when you can refine old catalytic converters instead of relying on earth mining operations to pull out new PGMS.

One of the reasons we have really seen such an increase in thefts and pricing is the higher push for better emission standards. The US Government along with many other world governments has pushed for high miles per gallon MPG and more hybrid vehicles to be put onto the road. In the s and early s, we saw car companies starting to put more PGMs into the cats, which led to higher returns.

When the pricing increased on the PGM group of metals, we saw the increase of catalytic converters and the increase in thefts due to the higher value. Our team is committed to buying units correctly and, more importantly, legally. We make sure to follow all local laws and track each catalytic converter purchase with assigned ticket numbers, ID tracking, and payment verification. The metal is primarily used inside of a catalytic converter, a device that converts harmful emissions such as carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide into less harmful ones before being released into the atmosphere.

Since their adoption into the automobile industry in the s, catalytic converters have led to a significant drop in carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide emissions. And the more palladium they use, the more efficient they are at combating these emissions — making them the perfect target for thieves. Over the years, catalytic converter theft has drastically risen due to the increasing value of palladium.

According to a study of reported thefts , on average, catalytic converters were stolen per month in That number rose to monthly thefts in and 1, thefts per month in With more and more manufacturers trying to reduce their impact on the environment and as stricter emissions regulations come into effect in places like Europe and China, the demand for palladium will only continue to escalate.

Verge Science spoke with a chemical engineer and one of the leading recyclers of catalytic converters in the country to find out what makes palladium so valuable — and what it would take to find new alternatives for this precious resource. Watch our latest video to see what we discovered.

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