Catalytic converters
Two-wheeler converters were written off. Washcoat extraction changed that
India has one of the largest two-wheeler fleets in the world. For most of the time that fleet has existed, its converters were not worth recovering.
The problem with a small unit
A two-wheeler converter is small, its substrate is light, and its precious-metal loading is a fraction of what a car unit carries — tenths of a gramme where a petrol car converter carries whole grammes. Recovery cost, though, does not scale down with the unit. Collection, decanning, homogenisation, sampling and assay cost roughly what they cost regardless of how much metal is at the end of them.
Put those two facts together and, for a long time, two-wheeler converters sat below the line: technically recoverable, not economically worth recovering. A great many were thrown away with the exhaust.
What changes it
Two things, together. The first is in-house washcoat extraction: taking the coating off the substrate ourselves rather than shipping whole units, so what travels to the refinery is concentrated material instead of mostly ceramic. The second is a refining partner who will take that output — concentrate from minor sources is not something every refinery wants, and a contract to place it is as much a part of the solution as the process is.
Neither works alone. Extraction without an offtake gives you a warehouse of powder; an offtake without extraction gives you freight bills that eat the metal.
Why volume is the other half
The economics only close at scale, because the fixed costs are shared across the lot rather than the unit. Our intake last year was 1,45,006 converters, and it is the aggregate that makes the minor-source material work — a few hundred two-wheeler units is a curiosity, tens of thousands is a lot.
What it means if you hold this material
If you run a two-wheeler workshop, a dismantling yard or a collection network and have been treating converters as exhaust scrap, they are not. They are low-grade, but low-grade with a route to market is worth something, and it is worth having counted rather than weighed. Tell us what you are holding and we will tell you plainly whether it is worth moving.
