Samenvatting

Single-use cardiac catheters contain platinum group metals, platinum, palladium, and iridium, in their electrode components, yet are routinely incinerated after a single procedure, destroying materials that are both economically valuable and classified as critical raw materials by the European Union. While prior research established that mechanical disassembly of these catheters is feasible, the downstream question of how to purify and monetise the recovered metals remained unanswered. The process requires no significant capital investment and is economically viable at GreenCycl's current operating scale. Iridium, despite representing only10% of electrode mass, accounts for approximately 30% of per-catheter alloy value and emerges as a key long-term revenue driver. These findings demonstrate that catheter-derived PGM recovery is not only technically achievable but commercially viable at small scale, offering the healthcare sector a circular alternative to incineration and a meaningful contribution to European critical raw material supply chains.