Asahi Kasei, Circularise and Furuya Metal test precious-metal traceability

Demonstration scope

Asahi Kasei, Circularise and Furuya Metal are testing digital traceability for precious metals used in chlor-alkali electrolysis electrodes, including the evaluation of Digital Product Passports (DPPs). The project will track materials from collection of spent electrodes through extraction, refining and recycled-metal production, then link the data to the manufacture of new electrodes.

Background and progress

Iridium and ruthenium are used in chlor-alkali electrodes and other applications. Global annual primary iridium production is estimated at around 7 metric tons, while ruthenium supply is approximately 30 metric tons. Both metals are largely obtained as by-products of platinum extraction, and their supply is concentrated in a small number of mining regions.

The project builds on a metal recycling initiative launched in 2025 to recover precious metals from end-of-life chlor-alkali cells and electrodes. From February to September 2025, Asahi Kasei and Circularise conducted a proof of concept using a simulated recycling scenario. It showed that the platform could securely manage data on metals recovered from used electrodes and reused in new products.

Traceability aims

The real-world demonstration will add traceability and data sharing across the recycling chain, aiming to make the lifecycle of recycled metals visible and support verification of recycled content. The partners also identify potential applications in hydrogen electrolysis and other industries that use critical minerals.