Elemental North America

What Elemental North America does

Elemental North America is the operating U.S. holding entity for the catalytic converter recycling operations of Elemental Holding Group, formed from the consolidation of four legacy U.S. recyclers: PGM of Texas (founded 2010), Legend Smelting and Recycling (founded 1982), Maryland Core Inc., and Daniel Ball Converter Recycling. The company purchases spent and scrap catalytic converters from scrap yards, automotive repair shops, dealerships, and commercial sellers across 20+ domestic processing locations, and recovers platinum, palladium, and rhodium through an end-to-end in-house process that includes sampling, XRF and ICP assay, electric fusion furnace smelting, and refining to finished metals. It is the only U.S. catalytic converter recycler that owns the entire recycling chain, including refining and smelting, with supplemental refining capacity accessed through the parent group's Zawiercie facility in Poland, one of the most modern recycling centers in the world.

The technology stack centers on physical metallurgy and chemistry rather than software: hydraulic shear decanning for converter opening, ball and hammer mills for sample preparation, carbon analyzers for contamination control, XRF for elemental identification, ICP optical emission spectroscopy for precise quantification, and electric fusion furnaces for sample processing. Capital-intensive refining assets are supported by a proprietary converter database (delivered via a mobile app to approved customers) built from decades of lab testing. Beyond catalytic converters, the company has extended into lithium-ion battery recycling, e-waste, wheels, foil catalyst, and oxygen sensors.

Elemental North America makes money on a transaction-based spread: it buys converter material at quote-based pricing that varies by type, PGM content, condition, and quantity, and sells recovered platinum, palladium, and rhodium into precious-metals markets. Distribution is entirely domestic and is driven by a direct field sales force of regional buyers who handle pricing, grading, documentation, and settlement. Customer segments are highly fragmented across enterprise scrap recyclers, mid-market auto and repair shops, dealership channels, core buyers, and individual sellers, with go-to-market executed through owned regional offices rather than third-party resellers.

Name

Elemental North America

Legal name

Elemental North America

Website

https://elementalna.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Elemental North America is the U.S. operating arm of Elemental Holding Group, unifying four legacy recyclers (PGM of Texas, Legend Smelting and Recycling, Maryland Core, Daniel Ball Converter Recycling) into the largest domestic network purchasing and recycling catalytic converters to recover platinum, palladium, and rhodium through in-house refining and smelting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Precious Metals Recycling

NAICS

Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Smelting and Refining (33141)

SIC

Secondary Smelting & Refining Of Nonferrous Metals (3341), Wholesale-Metals & Minerals (No Petroleum) (5050)

akta.pro primary industry

Precious & Specialty Metal Recovery (Smelting, Refining, Hydrometallurgy) (EUAIAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scrap Collection, Brokerage & Trading (Dealers, Aggregators, Exporters) (EUAIAJAH), Auto Shredding & Metal Fragmentation (Shredder Operations) (EUAIAJAD), Battery Scrap & Recycling Feedstock (Lead-Acid, Li-ion Black Mass Feedstock, NiMH) (IMAKAMAH)

Keywords

• Catalytic converter recycling
• Precious metals recovery
• Platinum group metals refining
• End-of-life vehicle recycling
• Non-ferrous metal recycling

Headquarters

HQ city

San Marcos

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices24 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Catalytic Converter Purchasing and Recycling: The company purchases catalytic converters from scrap yards, auto shops, dealerships, and commercial sellers. They process the converters to recover platinum, palladium, and rhodium metals which are then sold. This is a transaction-based model where the company buys material and generates revenue from the sale of recovered precious metals.
2. Additional Recycling Services: Beyond catalytic converters, the company also processes lithium-ion batteries, e-waste, wheels, foil catalyst, O2 sensors, and other non-ferrous waste materials for recycling and metal recovery.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Elemental North America is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elemental Holding Group that purchases end-of-life catalytic converters from scrap yards, auto shops, dealerships, and core buyers, and operates an end-to-end in-house recycling process covering sampling, XRF and ICP assaying, decanning, milling, smelting, and refining to recover platinum, palladium, and rhodium for sale on precious metals markets.

Product overview

Elemental North America is a unified platform of four leading U.S. recycling companies (PGM of Texas, Legend Smelting and Recycling, Maryland Core, Inc., and Daniel Ball Converter Recycling) offering comprehensive catalytic converter recycling services. The company's core offering is end-to-end recycling with full vertical integration—including purchasing, processing, sampling, assaying, smelting, and refining—making it the only catalytic converter recycler in the U.S. that owns the entire process. Beyond converters, they also recycle lithium-ion batteries, e-waste, wheels, foil catalysts, and O2 sensors. The portfolio includes a converter database app and laboratory analysis services, supported by processing facilities across 20+ nationwide locations and smelting/refining operations through the Zawiercie facility in Poland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Catalytic Converter Recycling Services End-to-end purchasing and recycling service for end-of-life catalytic converters, covering sampling, XRF and ICP assaying, hydraulic shear decanning, milling, electric fusion furnace smelting, and refining to recover platinum, palladium, and rhodium. Targeted at scrap yards, auto repair shops, dealerships, and core buyers across the United States.
• Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Recycling service for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, recovering valuable materials such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, and copper through specialised processing. Targeted at battery waste generators, automotive recyclers, and electronics waste handlers.
• E-Waste Recycling Recycling service for end-of-life electronic equipment, recovering precious and base metals from circuit boards, connectors, and electronic components. Targeted at electronics recyclers, IT asset disposition firms, and commercial waste generators.
• Converter Database App Standalone digital application providing catalytic converter pricing reference and identification data for converters in the secondary market. Targeted at scrap yards, auto shops, dealers, and core buyers needing current market pricing and converter reference information.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 800 pounds of earth and rock must be mined to extract the same amount of precious metals found in just one catalytic converter weighing about 3.3 pounds (Waste Advantage Magazine, April 2021)

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ReMA (Recycling Industries Association, formerly ISRI)minorOthersPGM of Texas collaborates with ReMA (formerly ISRI - Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries) to continuously improve the metal recycling industry.
• IPMI (International Precious Metals Institute)minorOthersPGM of Texas collaborates with IPMI to advance precious metals recovery and recycling practices.
• ARA (Automotive Recyclers Association)minorOthersPGM of Texas collaborates with ARA to support the automotive recycling industry and improve metal recovery practices.
• Elemental Holding GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company providing capital, global network of collection points, processing facilities and transportation. Elemental North America is part of Elemental Holding Group which operates the Zawiercie smelting and refining plant in Poland - one of the most modern recycling centers in the world.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Johnson Matthey: Global PGM specialist with established refining, recycling, and catalyst operations. Competes broadly with Elemental NA in PGM refining and end markets, though with a much wider portfolio.
• Umicore: Belgian materials technology group with a major precious metals recycling and refining business, plus battery materials. Overlaps with Elemental NA on PGM refining and increasingly on battery recycling.
• Heraeus: German-headquartered precious metals and technology group operating one of the world's largest precious metals refineries. Direct overlap with Elemental NA in PGM refining and recycling services.
• BASF: Global chemical company with major automotive catalyst and PGM businesses, including PGM recycling from spent autocatalysts. Competes with Elemental NA at the interface of PGM recovery and catalyst markets.
• Aurubis: European copper smelter that recovers precious metals (including PGMs) as byproducts of copper refining. Provides an alternative metallurgical pathway for PGM recovery versus Elemental NA's dedicated converter route.
• Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo: Japanese precious metals refiner and manufacturer with global PGM processing capability, including through subsidiary Metalor. Comparable to Elemental NA in PGM refining services and supply.
• Sibanye-Stillwater: South African PGM miner and recycler with North American operations (Stillwater). Competes in PGM production and recycling, providing alternative supply to PGM buyers vs. Elemental NA's recycled feedstock.
• Dowa Holdings: Japanese environmental and recycling company operating one of Asia's largest e-waste and precious metals recycling complexes. Overlaps with Elemental NA's e-waste and PGM recovery operations.

Direct peers

• Asahi Refining: North American precious metals refiner (part of Asahi Holdings) with PGM refining capabilities. Competes with Elemental NA for catalytic converter feedstock and serves overlapping jewelry and industrial PGM customers.
• Materion Corporation: U.S.-based advanced materials company that processes and refines precious and specialty metals, including PGMs. Materion competes most directly with Elemental NA in domestic precious metals refining and high-purity metal supply.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/elemental-north-america

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Elemental North America