It seems catalytic converter theft is becoming a “thing” in our wider area. If you spend a few seconds on Google trying ti understand why, you’ll find nearly every site reports something very similar to this:
So, we would assumed a sophisticated buyer/recycler, if they’re actually disassembling these things to scavenge for mineral content. You’re not going to pull sputtered palladium off a ceramic substrate and collect it successfully and efficiently without some pretty expensive and specialized equipment, making me think that finding and shutting down the customer chain of these street thrives would have to be pretty easy.
Auto recycling yards are likely the vector for these things, between their and component recycler, and it wouldn’t be very difficult to target those buying these converters from thieves. So why is this still a problem?
Thieves steal catalytic converters because the metals found inside the devices are valuable and also because they are easy to steal. Catalytic converters have one or more of three precious metals: platinum, palladium, and rhodium. However, the prices of these precious metals have risen in recent years.
So, we would assumed a sophisticated buyer/recycler, if they’re actually disassembling these things to scavenge for mineral content. You’re not going to pull sputtered palladium off a ceramic substrate and collect it successfully and efficiently without some pretty expensive and specialized equipment, making me think that finding and shutting down the customer chain of these street thrives would have to be pretty easy.
Auto recycling yards are likely the vector for these things, between their and component recycler, and it wouldn’t be very difficult to target those buying these converters from thieves. So why is this still a problem?