BASF is expanding its Seneca, South Carolina Platinum Group Metals (PGM) refining facility. The company will invest double-digit millions in capital improvements to increase refining capacity to recycle precious metals from spent catalysts such as automotive catalytic converters.

Recycled metal has as much as 90% lower CO₂ emissions than metal from primary mines. By recovering the precious metals for reuse in fresh catalysts BASF closes the loop with circular economy solutions.

This investment further strengthens our global leadership position in the spent automotive catalyst recycling market. We are proud to enable the circular economy and to support our customers’, and our own, sustainability goals.

—Tim Ingle, Vice President, BASF Precious Metals Refining, Chemicals & Battery Recycling

The Seneca site serves as a global recycling hub for BASF; in 2015, the company consolidated its spent chemical catalysts refining and recycling operations there.

BASF’s Seneca site produces precious metal catalysts and chemicals that are used by BASF customers to produce a wide variety of products, including herbicides, plastics, pharmaceuticals, automotive emission catalysts, fragrances and fertilizers.