Products & Solutions Company Responsibility

Advanced Precious Metals Services for the Hydrogen Economy

Besides our superior catalyst range, Heraeus offers an extensive portfolio of precious metal services that increases the planning reliability of your business, helps you to achieve higher margins and allows you to focus on your core business. To build a sustainable sourcing strategy for the scarce precious metals needed in the hydrogen economy, a unique set of competencies are necessary.

Trading Solutions

Many processes around hydrogen require precious metal catalysts. Thus, hydrogen customers rely on Heraeus as leading precious metal experts to secure their supply chain needs.

Especially Iridium is very scarce and needs advanced strategies to be provided. Heraeus secures the access to critical raw materials with strategic long-term partnerships with mines. As leading precious metal provider, Heraeus offers state of the art trading services and advanced tools, such as hedging solutions. You want to learn more? Watch the video.

Actydon | Loop: Closing the Iridium Gap Sustainably with Precious Metals Recycling

With the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy the demand for the recycling of important metals like platinum, iridium or ruthenium from production scrap of CCM manufacturers as well as end-of-life materials will rise dramatically.

As such, recycling of these materials is not new, as the technologies have been applied also before. Heraeus brings more than 80 years precious metal recycling experience and thereof over 10 years with the treatment of materials from hydrogen applications.

Already today, Heraeus covers all steps in a state-of-the-art hydrometallurgical process for platinum, iridium and ruthenium from preparation, sampling, analytic and refining of CCMs, MEA, inks and pastes with high return rates. Driven from the new demand in the markets the technology is developed further to industrialize and open new possibilities.

In the long run, the recycling capacities are an indispensable part of the hydrogen economy. The iridium needs to be recovered to be able to equip the built-up electrolyzes with new CCMs once they reach their end-of-life cycle. This way, only the small precious metal losses need to be replaced.

We care about the environment and will become the first precious metal company in the world to be carbon neutral by 2025. In fact, the CO₂ footprint recycled precious metals is up to 98% lower than for metals from the primary industry.

Heraeus is investing in further recycling capacities for the Hydrogen economy. With facilities close to our clients in China, Europe and the US we are well prepared to serve the future demand.

Find more information about our recycling services on Heraeus Precious Metals Recycling Website or download our Precious Metals Recycling Brochure