Platinum’s supply is facing increasing pressure, and recycling rates play a significant role in this dynamic. Despite platinum being used extensively—especially in automotive catalytic converters, which consume about half of global demand—the contribution from recycling remains surprisingly low and stagnant.
Vehicles have contained platinum-group metals for decades, mainly in catalytic converters that reduce harmful emissions. This long history means there is a large potential stock of platinum available for recycling. However, currently only about a quarter of the global platinum supply comes from recycled sources. Efforts to boost end-of-life vehicle recycling could potentially double this contribution, easing some supply constraints—but such efforts have not yet taken off at scale.
In recent years, recycled platinum supply has actually declined slightly or grown only marginally—reaching a 12-year low in 2024 with just minimal improvement expected in 2025. This underperformance contrasts sharply with rising demand driven by shifts in the automotive industry: more hybrid vehicles require more platinum-heavy catalytic converters as automakers substitute palladium with cheaper and more efficient platinum.
At the same time, mining new supplies of platinum is slow and costly. New mines take over a decade to develop due to capital intensity and logistical challenges like those faced by South African producers who dominate global output. Because mining can’t quickly ramp up production even when prices rise sharply, the market increasingly relies on existing above-ground stocks—including recycled material—to meet demand.
Unfortunately, these stocks are dwindling; above-ground reserves now cover only about three months’ worth of demand at best—a level considered unsustainably low. Without stronger growth in recycling rates or new mine production coming online soon, the gap between supply and growing demand will widen further.
In essence: **low recycling rates are limiting how much secondary (recovered) platinum enters the market**, forcing reliance on constrained mining output and shrinking stockpiles. This imbalance contributes to tighter overall supply conditions that push prices higher but don’t immediately solve availability issues.
The key takeaway is that improving collection systems for end-of-life vehicles and boosting recovery technologies could significantly help ease future shortages by unlocking substantial amounts of recyclable metal already “above ground.” Until then, limited recycling growth combined with slow mine expansion keeps pressure on platinum’s tight supply situation today—and likely into the near future as well.