Platinum is a rare and valuable metal used in many important applications, especially in catalytic converters for vehicles and emerging green technologies like hydrogen fuel cells. How much platinum is available to meet growing demand depends not only on mining but also heavily on recycling.
Recycling plays a crucial role in supplying platinum because the metal has been used in vehicle catalytic converters for about 50 years. These converters contain platinum-group metals that can be recovered when cars reach the end of their life. However, despite this long history, only about one-quarter of the global platinum supply currently comes from recycling efforts.
This relatively low recycling rate means that most new demand must be met by mining or drawing down existing above-ground stocks—metal held in inventories or old products waiting to be recycled. Unfortunately, these above-ground stocks are shrinking quickly and are now at unsustainably low levels—just enough to cover roughly three months of global demand.
The slow growth in recycling rates is a key factor limiting how much platinum can enter the market. Even though there is significant potential to increase recycled supply by consolidating end-of-life recovery programs, progress has been modest with only small percentage increases year over year recently. This underperformance contributes directly to supply shortages and price pressures.
Because mining production faces challenges such as geographic risks (most production comes from South Africa and Zimbabwe), infrastructure issues, labor strikes, and export levies, relying more on recycling could help ease these constraints. But without substantial improvements in collection and processing of scrap materials like spent catalytic converters, the gap between supply and demand will remain tight.
Higher prices have been necessary to encourage more metal into circulation through both mining incentives and potentially better recycling economics. Still, even with rising prices attracting some additional recycled material back into supply chains, it hasn’t yet closed the deficit caused by limited primary production growth combined with surging industrial needs.
In short: Recycling rates strongly affect how much platinum is available globally because they represent a major secondary source beyond mining output. When recycling remains low relative to potential capacity—and when mined supplies face hurdles—the overall availability shrinks sharply. This leads to dwindling stockpiles that put upward pressure on prices as industries compete for limited metal resources essential for pollution control technologies today—and clean energy solutions tomorrow.