The team at BASF Metals Recycling in Cinderford was delighted to welcome the Earl of Caithness to the site as part of the Industry and Parliament Fellowship programme.

The Earl was given a tour of BASF’s state-of-the-art recycling facility which recovers precious metals from spent vehicle catalytic converters.

Site manager Chris Turner said: “It was a real pleasure to welcome the Earl of Caithness to Cinderford.

“Our operations are the first important step in the process of recycling precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium.

“We are proud to be enabling a more circular economy for these precious resources contained in spent automotive catalytic converters as the metals recovered in this facility are then further processed and re-used to make new products.”

The Earl said: “At a time when the minimisation of waste and recycling have never been more important, it was a pleasure to visit BASF’s world leading recycling plant which is not only setting the highest quality standards, demonstrating the benefits that a circular economy can bring to all but also offering great local employment opportunities.

“I am delighted such a business is located here in the UK.”

BASF’s Senior Sustainability Manager for UK & Ireland, Tony Heslop joined the meeting and was delighted to discuss metals and the circular economy.

BASF’s Senior Sustainability Manager, UK & Ireland, Tony Heslop joined the meeting, delighted to discuss metals and the circular economy. Tony Heslop said: “Society’s reliance on a take-make-dispose linear model means that we continue to use the Earth’s finite resources. Our Cinderford site is an example of how circularity can be used to capture precious materials and use them again many times over.”