Hobbies And Interests
Jewelry
The easiest and most common way to find and recycle old platinum is to look for it in jewelry. Like gold and silver, platinum is a popular decorative metal and can be sold to many of the same buyers who deal in other precious metals. A qualified gold or silver buyer will be able to confirm the presence of platinum in any jewelry and value it accordingly. Once recycled, platinum from jewelry is often used to make new jewelry, and a niche market for this more environmentally friendly jewelry maintains demand for recycled platinum jewelry.
Antiques
Many antiques contain platinum. Antique stores, estate sales, flea markets and even second-hand stores can all hold valuable, overlooked finds in the search for platinum. If platinum recycling is being done for extra income, antiques can be the most lucrative source for this metal, as the owners or sellers may not realize the full value of the materials in their antiques and might sell them for less than the value of their platinum or other components. Although finding platinum in antiques can be time-consuming, the revenue generated from recycling their platinum components can be considerable.
Catalytic Converters
Catalytic converters contain many recyclable materials. Among them are palladium, rhodium and platinum. The platinum elements of a catalytic converter can be removed, treated and reused in the production of new cars, and an entire sub-industry exists to study and research cleaner, cheaper methods of recycling platinum from old catalytic converters. While not readily available to average people who are looking for platinum to recycle, the platinum in catalytic converters is widely extracted and used by manufacturers and can be used in other industrial and electronics components as well.