Asahi Kasei, Dutch software and blockchain company Circularise, and Furuya Metal have joined forces to bring greater transparency and traceability to the supply chains of critical precious metals.

 

This, by launching a joint demonstration project to track materials used in chlor-alkali electrolysis electrodes and assess the use of Digital Product Passports (DPPs).

 

The initiative aims to digitally track precious metals throughout their lifecycle — from recovery and refining to reuse in newly manufactured products — addressing growing concerns over supply security, resource scarcity and the need for a more circular economy.

 

The urgency is clear. Precious metals such as iridium and ruthenium are indispensable to chlor-alkali electrolysis electrodes, as well as semiconductors, electronics and advanced chemical applications. Demand is expected to climb further as hydrogen production technologies, particularly proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, expand worldwide.

 

Yet supply remains severely constrained. According to the International Platinum Group Metals Association, global annual primary iridium production is estimated at just 7 metric tons, while ruthenium supply stands at approximately 30 metric tons.

 

Both metals rank among the world's most supply-constrained critical resources. Production is concentrated in a handful of mining regions, with much of the supply obtained as a by-product of platinum extraction. The resulting supply-demand imbalance has fuelled significant price volatility and intensified the push for recycling and more efficient resource management.

 

But recycling alone is not enough. Tracking precious metals across the entire supply chain remains a major challenge. While companies may know where end-of-life materials are collected and where metals are refined, maintaining visibility through intermediate processing, refining and subsequent reuse is considerably more difficult.

 

This lack of end-to-end traceability makes it harder to verify recycled content and demonstrate circularity at scale. Digital Product Passports could help close that gap by providing a trusted digital record of materials and their movement across the value chain.

 

The latest initiative builds on a precious metal recycling programme launched in 2025 to recover and recycle valuable metals from end-of-life chlor-alkali electrolysis cells and electrodes. That collaboration marked an important step towards establishing a circular resource ecosystem within the chlor-alkali industry.

 

The new project takes the effort further by introducing digital traceability and secure data-sharing capabilities, making it possible to track recycled precious metals from recovery through their reintegration into newly manufactured electrodes.

 

Circularise brings nearly a decade of experience developing supply chain traceability and secure data-sharing solutions for global industries, including chemicals and battery materials.

 

The companies have already tested the concept. Between February and September 2025, Asahi Kasei and Circularise conducted an initial proof of concept using a simulated recycling scenario. The results demonstrated that the Circularise platform could securely manage data on precious metals recovered from end-of-life electrodes and subsequently reused in new products.

 

With the initial proof of concept completed, the partners are now moving towards a real-world demonstration involving Furuya Metal.

 

The project will initially establish traceability across the recycling chain, covering the collection of spent electrodes, precious metal extraction, refining and recycled metal production.

 

The next phase will extend tracking downstream by connecting material data to the manufacturing of new electrodes, paving the way for the evaluation of Digital Product Passports.

 

"For Asahi Kasei, the sustainable utilization of precious metal resources is a critical priority," said Yoshifumi Kado, Senior General Manager of Asahi Kasei's Ion Exchange Membrane & Electrolysis System Division. 

 

"Building a truly circular system requires close collaboration among companies involved in collection, refining, and manufacturing. By bringing together Asahi Kasei’s experience in chlor-alkali electrolysis, Furuya Metal’s expertise in precious metal recycling, and Circularise’s digital traceability capabilities, we can develop a solution that would be otherwise difficult to do alone—pushing the entire industry forward."

 

The partners expect the initiative to help raise recycling rates for precious metals used in chlor-alkali electrolysis while delivering greater transparency across the value chain.

 

Its potential, however, extends well beyond the chlor-alkali sector. The companies see opportunities to apply the approach to hydrogen production electrolysis systems and other industries heavily dependent on critical minerals.

 

By combining advanced metal recovery with secure digital traceability, the project aims to establish a scalable model for tracking and reusing strategic resources.

 

As pressure mounts on global supplies of critical metals, the collaboration highlights how recycling and digital transparency can work together to strengthen resource security, reduce dependence on primary materials and accelerate the transition towards a more circular economy.