BASF Metals Recycling Ltd has unveiled a £3 million manufacturing site which will give the Forest of Dean a jobs boost.

The state of the art facility at Cinderford houses a recycling operation for recovering precious metals from industrial scrap, primarily old catalytic converters from cars and electronic scrap.

​Some 75 people attended the opening ceremony on Friday. The 56,000 sq ft facility will provide a secondary source for vital resources such as platinum, palladium and rhodium.

In addition, the site will house an analytical services laboratory to ensure accurate measurement of precious metals content for customers. The new facility is next to BASF's existing metals recycling plant in Cinderford, which had previously operated under the Engelhard name, employing 70 people. The number of employees is expected to grow by ten per cent.

The new operating site more than doubles BASF's local manufacturing footprint and production capacity.

"Through this investment, we are making a strong commitment to the Cinderford region, which will now serve as the hub of our European metals recycling operations," said Deon Carter, Senior Vice President, Precious Metals Services, which is part of BASF's global Catalysts division.

"The precious metals recovered here will allow us to support BASF and other customers who are seeking a highly sustainable source of quality metals to support their production needs."

Car catalytic converters are one of the largest users of platinum group metals (PGMs), accounting for more than half of the world's annual PGM mining output.

"Our new operation in Cinderford significantly expands our commitment to the environmentally responsible re-use of the world's limited precious metals," said Dr. Henrik Junicke, BASF's Vice President of Global Refining, Salts and Solutions. "While there is significant variation in metal content sourced from different scrap feeds, our expert staff and advanced sampling and analysis techniques allow us to provide highly accurate results for platinum, palladium and rhodium content."

Dr John Setchfield, site manager at BASF Metals Recycling said: "I am exceptionally proud of the way our employees pulled together to launch this new facility and bring our expanded production capacity on line in a very safe and professional manner.

"We have made great strides in Cinderford in recent years, and we look forward to celebrating our 50th anniversary in the region in 2012."