Platinum scrap is worth its weight in platinum times its purity, less the refiner's payable percentage and refining charge, priced off the live spot rate on platinum price today. A refiner never pays for gross weight: a 10 g item at 95% purity (Pt950) contains 9.5 g of fine platinum, and only a share of that fine content is paid out once the payable percentage and charges are deducted. This page also covers scrap platinum, palladium and rhodium sources and how much of the world's platinum supply now comes back through recycling.
How Much Is Platinum Scrap Worth?#
Platinum scrap is worth its metal content at the current spot price of $1,711.00 per troy ounce (5 Oct 2026, 15:35 UTC), minus a refining deduction. A 10 g item at 95% purity (Pt950) contains 9.5 g of fine platinum, and that fine weight, not the item's gross weight, is what a refiner assays and settles against. The platinum value calculator turns a weight and a purity into an estimated fine content before any deduction.
Platinum Scrap Value by Weight and Purity#
Platinum scrap value scales directly with weight in grams or troy ounces multiplied by fine platinum content, before any refiner deduction. The table below works this out for six common weights across four purities, without a live price, since fine content is a fixed fraction of weight.
| Weight | Grams | 999 fine (g) | Pt950 fine (g) | Pt900 fine (g) | Pt850 fine (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 gram | 1 | 0.999 | 0.950 | 0.900 | 0.850 |
| 1 pennyweight (dwt) | 1.55517384 | 1.554 | 1.477 | 1.400 | 1.322 |
| 10 grams | 10 | 9.990 | 9.500 | 9.000 | 8.500 |
| 1 troy ounce | 31.1034768 | 31.072 | 29.548 | 27.993 | 26.438 |
| 100 grams | 100 | 99.900 | 95.000 | 90.000 | 85.000 |
| 1 kilogram | 1,000 | 999.000 | 950.000 | 900.000 | 850.000 |
Fine platinum content only; multiply by the current spot price per gram or troy ounce for an estimated value, before the payable percentage and refining charge below.
Platinum Purity Marks: Pt950, Pt900, Pt850 and 999#
Platinum jewelry is marked with a purity number such as Pt950, Pt900 or Pt850, meaning 950, 900 or 850 parts per 1,000 are fine platinum, according to the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) glossary. The mark that appears on a given piece depends on where it was made and sold, as the table below shows.
| Purity mark | Parts per 1,000 | Where it is standard |
|---|---|---|
| Pt950 | 950 | United States and Europe (the most common grade); also permitted in China |
| Pt900 | 900 | China (GB 11887-2012) |
| Pt850 | 850 | China (GB 11887-2012) |
| 999 / 99.95% (3N5) | 999 or 999.5 | Wholesale bullion: the LPPM Good Delivery minimum for platinum plates and ingots and the ASTM B561 Grade 99.95 standard |
China's GB 11887-2012 standard, effective 1 May 2013, permits Pt950, Pt900 and Pt850 as jewelry designations, while the LPPM's Good Delivery rules for platinum set a minimum fineness of 99.95% (3N5) for wholesale plates and ingots, matching ASTM B561's Grade 99.95 specification for refined platinum.
What Determines the Payout on Platinum Scrap#
A refiner pays less than 100% of a scrap lot's platinum content, deducting a payable percentage and a refining charge before settlement. Both deductions apply after the item's fine platinum content, not its gross weight, has been established by assay.
Payable Percentage: Why You Are Not Paid on 100% of the Weight#
Ecotrade quotes a typical platinum payable percentage of 96% to 98%, and Recohub quotes 98%, meaning 2% to 4% of the assayed platinum content is retained by the refiner as its margin. Both toll refiners pay rhodium at a lower rate than platinum or palladium, as the table below shows.
| Source | Platinum and palladium payable | Rhodium payable |
|---|---|---|
| Ecotrade | 96% to 98% | 88% to 93% |
| Recohub | 98% | 94% to 95% |
Rhodium is always payable at a lower percentage than platinum and palladium on both sources, a gap Recohub attributes to "chemistry and process specifics" since rhodium is the hardest of the three metals to bring fully into solution during refining. A mixed lot containing rhodium, such as catalytic converter material, is settled against these lower rhodium terms for that share; see rhodium scrap for detail.
Treatment and Refining Charges#
Ecotrade's typical schedule adds a treatment charge of US$200 to US$500 per lot and a refining charge of US$5 to US$25 per troy ounce (US$161 to US$805 per kilogram) of platinum recovered. The treatment charge is fixed per lot regardless of size, while the refining charge scales with the ounces of platinum the assay confirms.
The conversion matters: US$5 per troy ounce equals US$160.75 per kilogram and US$25 per troy ounce equals US$803.76 per kilogram, using the exact 31.1034768 grams in a troy ounce, so a rounded "US$150 to US$700 per kilogram" figure understates the true ceiling by roughly 13%. Because the treatment charge does not scale with weight, a small lot of platinum scrap carries a proportionally larger fixed deduction than a large one.
Assay: How a Refiner Confirms Purity#
A refiner determines purity by assay, most commonly the spectrographic (optical emission) technique that the London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM) specifies as the referee method for Good Delivery accreditation. Assay typically runs in two stages: a preliminary screening pass, usually by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), followed by a settlement-grade determination by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis or fire assay once a lot is accepted for refining.
The referee method matters for disputes: LPPM's independent referees test disputed samples by spectrographic analysis without being told the applicant's identity, which is why a scrap seller can request an umpire assay if the returned purity is contested. Once purity is confirmed, the lot moves into the refining process explained in full on precious metal refining.
Where Platinum Scrap Comes From#
Platinum scrap reaches refiners from five main sources: jewelry, catalytic converters, laboratory equipment, thermocouples and electronics, and dental alloys. Each carries platinum in its own alloy and purity, summarized below before each source is covered in turn.
- Jewelry: rings and settings, usually stamped Pt950.
- Catalytic converters: platinum, palladium and rhodium on a ceramic monolith.
- Laboratory equipment: crucibles and dishes in platinum or platinum-rhodium alloy.
- Thermocouples and electronics: platinum-rhodium sensor wire and contacts.
- Dental alloys: platinum-bearing crowns and bridges.
Platinum Jewelry#
Platinum jewelry scrap is paid on its stamped or assayed fineness, most commonly Pt950 in the United States and Europe. Purity-specific payout detail, including how a jeweler's rate per gram is applied to a Pt950 piece, is covered on selling platinum jewelry for scrap.
Catalytic Converters#
Catalytic converters carry platinum, palladium and rhodium on a ceramic monolith, dispersed as nanoparticles on the washcoat rather than as a plated layer, which is why a whole converter weighs several kilograms but contains only single-digit grams of platinum group metal. Converter-specific valuation, identification codes and buyers are covered on scrap platinum, palladium and rhodium and on how much is a catalytic converter worth.
Laboratory Crucibles and Industrial Platinum#
Platinum laboratory crucibles, dishes and tongs are valued on the same purity-times-weight basis as jewelry, typically as pure platinum or as a platinum-5% gold or platinum-10% rhodium alloy used for its resistance to borate fusion at high temperature. Crucible-specific weights and alloy grades are covered on platinum labware and crucible scrap.
Thermocouples, Electronics and Dental Scrap#
Platinum thermocouple wire, defined by the international standard IEC 60584, comes in three alloy pairs: Type S (platinum-10% rhodium against pure platinum), Type R (platinum-13% rhodium against pure platinum) and Type B (platinum-30% rhodium against platinum-6% rhodium). Electronics and dental scrap each carry platinum in their own alloy and purity, covered on platinum thermocouple scrap, electronic scrap and dental scrap.
How Much Platinum Supply Comes from Recycling#
Recycling supplied 24.8% of total platinum supply in 2026f (1,826,000 of 7,377,000 ounces), according to WPIC's Platinum Quarterly, prepared by Metals Focus. Mine supply makes up most of the remainder, as the table below breaks down.
| Supply category | 2026f (koz) | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Mine supply | 5,551 | 75.2% |
| Recycling | 1,826 | 24.8% |
| Total supply | 7,377 | 100% |
Within that 1,826 koz recycling total, WPIC forecasts autocatalyst recycling up 10% to 1,365 koz, jewelry scrap up 5% to 373 koz and industrial recycling up 9% to 88 koz for 2026, all on the same WPIC and Metals Focus basis. On a separate, non-comparable basis, the US Geological Survey reports that about 140,000 kilograms of platinum and palladium combined were recovered globally from new and old scrap in 2025, including about 8,600 kilograms of platinum recovered from automobile catalytic converters in the United States alone. These flows feed into the wider platinum group metals market balance.
Selling Platinum Scrap#
Selling platinum scrap means choosing a refiner, agreeing an assay method and a price-fixing basis, and receiving payment on the payable weight. The steps differ mainly in how quickly the seller wants to be paid and how much price risk they are willing to carry during the assay period.
Get a Platinum Scrap Quote#
A platinum scrap quote should state the payable percentage, the refining charge and the price-fixing window before any material is shipped. Ecotrade's full assay cycle runs roughly 13 to 15 working days from receipt to final settlement assay, plus 2 working days to pay. Sellers who do not pre-fix are paid at the market price on the day they approve the results, while Ecotrade describes a pre-fixing window of 1 to 5 days for those who want to lock a price sooner.
Platinum Price per Gram, Ounce and Kilogram#
Platinum scrap value tracks the live price per gram, ounce and kilogram, each on a dedicated page. The three weight-specific pages are listed below.
- Per gram: platinum price per gram, for small jewelry and dental items.
- Per kilogram: platinum price per kilogram, for larger industrial and laboratory lots.
- History and forecast: annual levels are on platinum price history and named outlooks are on platinum price forecast.
Other Platinum Group Metal Scrap#
The other platinum group metals sold as scrap, palladium and rhodium, each have their own scrap value page. Both are valued the same way, fine content at spot less a payable percentage and a refining charge, but rhodium's payable percentage runs several points lower than platinum's.
| Metal | Scrap page | Main valuation basis |
|---|---|---|
| Palladium | scrap palladium price | Fine content at spot, less payable percentage (96% to 98%, Ecotrade) and refining charge |
| Rhodium | rhodium scrap | Fine content at spot, less a lower payable percentage (88% to 93% Ecotrade, 94% to 95% Recohub) |
Platinum Scrap FAQ#
How much does 1 oz of platinum scrap sell for?#
Platinum scrap sells for its fine platinum content at the live spot price, before the refiner's payable percentage and refining charge. A 1 oz t item at Pt950 contains 0.9505 oz t of fine platinum (29.548 g), and the payout is that fine weight priced at spot, minus the 2% to 12% payable deduction set out above (a DailyPlatinum calculation from the Ecotrade and Recohub ranges).
Why is platinum scrap paid below the spot price?#
Platinum scrap is paid below the spot price because the payable percentage (96% to 98%) and the refining charge (US$5 to US$25 per troy ounce) are deducted before settlement, per Ecotrade's published terms. Platinum bullion trades below the dealer's ask for a different reason, market liquidity, covered under why platinum is hard to sell.
Where is the best place to sell platinum scrap?#
The best place to sell platinum scrap is a refiner that states its payable percentage, refining charge and assay method in writing before it takes the material. DailyPlatinum does not rank individual buyers; a seller can compare written terms against the ranges on this page before committing a lot. Bullion, coin and jewelry buyers are compared on where to sell platinum.
Is platinum scrap the same purity as bullion?#
Platinum scrap is rarely the same purity as investment bullion: jewelry scrap is commonly Pt950 (95%), while LPPM Good Delivery bars and refined sponge are at least 99.95% (3N5). Refining is the step that closes that gap, turning assorted scrap purities into wholesale-grade metal.