What Will the New Volkswagen Settlement Mean for Catalytic Converter Availability and Prices?
Last September we posted a blog post about the possible effect that the VW diesel emissions scandal could have on the number of recyclable catalytic converters that are available for collectors to stockpile. (Remember that diesel-powered cars, like gas-powered ones, use catalytic converters.) It took a long time, but this month VW and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached an agreement to compensate owners of VW 2.0 diesels or to repair or buy back their affected cars.
So, what does the new agreement mean for you if you collect and recycle catalytic converters for a profit? Although full details of the agreement have not yet been announced, here are some issues to keep in mind if you are hoping that the agreement could yield a windfall in available converters.
How Many Vehicles Are Involved?
The EPA announced that the new agreement will affect the owners of about 500,000 diesel vehicles made by Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche. That’s a lot of cars.
Are All those Cars Going to Need New Catalytic Converters?
It depends on whether VW will “repair” all those cars with a software fix or retrofit them with new catalytic converters. If new converters, that could mean that an unprecedented number of used units will be removed from vehicles. Note that the overriding opinion on online forums is that VW’s repair will definitely include replacing catalytic converters on affected cars.
Will You Be Able to Get Your Hands on those Used Converters?
To know for sure, we will have to wait until the full details of the agreement are finalized and made public. But given the fact that VW has already been responsible for one of the biggest corporate environmental transgressions ever, it seems likely that VW will collect all old cat converters and recycle them uniformly and safely. That probably means that used units will not be sold to individuals who would like to buy them and recycle them for the profitable platinum, palladium and rhodium that they contain.
Will Participation in the Agreement Be Mandatory for all VW Owners?
We won’t know until the full terms of the VW/EPA agreement become known. It’s conceivable that some owners of diesel cars might be allowed to opt out of the agreement and continue to drive their cars until those vehicles – or the catalytic converters they use – die of “natural causes.” If that is the case, the number of cat converters that are removed from cars would be reduced, and those converters wouldn’t arrive on the recycling market until months or years from now.
Do You Have Catalytic Converters to Recycle Right Now?
If you have collected 500 or more catalytic converters from any kind of cars and would like to recycle your units now, call Specialty Metals at 800-426-2344. There is no need to wait until VW and the EPA work out their deal. You can start profiting from your cat converters today.
Related Posts:
Recycling Catalytic Converters: Will More Diesel Carmakers Be Affected?
Why Do We Only Process Batches of 500 or More Catalytic Converters?
How to Eliminate the Middleman and Make More Money from Your Used Catalytic Converters
Cash in Today on Huge Stocks of Scrapped Catalytic Converters