Frequently asked questions about carbide recycling

Practical questions related to our recycling service

How much money does my company get back for recycling scrapped solid carbide tooling? How much is the scrap price?

Stock market prices change daily. Please contact us by sending us a message or using the chat function to get the current price. Typically, we pay a better price compared with other scrap vendors since we are the end user of the returned material.

What type of carbide tips do you accept? Whom should I contact?

We accept all solid carbide tips – regardless of manufacturer brand or origin. Contact us for guidance. We will help set you up with the right collection boxes and buckets.

About the recycling process

How do you recycle solid carbide? Can you tell me more about the actual recycling process?

When the worn-out inserts and tools are retrieved, they are transported to our ISO-certified recycling plants, where they are recycled into powder. This is carried out through either a zinc or chemical process:

• Chemical process: All components of the used carbide are dissolved into their atomic components. After purification, extraction and crystallization, followed by thermal powder metallurgical processes, the virgin products are obtained.
• Zinc process: At the recycling sites, used carbide is disaggregated into a powder by chemical and/or physical means without changing its actual composition (thereby assuring minimum energy consumption and chemical waste).

Does all the tungsten carbide consist of same grade, or are they different grades?

They are all of different grades. Sandvik Coromant offers more than 220 finished product grades.

Can tungsten carbide be recycled?

Yes, luckily it can, as tungsten is a scarce and finite mineral. Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten is a division within Sandvik and a world-leading tungsten powder and tungsten carbide producer. They have developed a proprietary recycling process that is clean and efficient while providing powder with the same high quality and properties as virgin raw materials.

What is cemented carbide?

Cemented carbide is a powdery metallurgical material: a composite of tungsten carbide (WC) particles and a binder rich in metallic cobalt (Co). Cemented carbides for metal cutting applications consist of more than 80% hard-phase WC. Other important components are additional cubic carbonitrides, especially in gradient-sintered grades. The cemented carbide body is formed, either through powder pressing or injection molding techniques, into a body, which is then sintered to full density. Read more about our cutting tool material

Sustainability/environmental impact

Do you have a supplier code of conduct?

We are committed to fundamental principles regarding human rights, labor rights, the environment and the fight against corruption throughout our operations. This includes building sustainable relationships with our suppliers. We are committed to adhering to these principles and to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We believe that by doing so, we create a solid foundation for a sustainable future for us and our stakeholders. We take responsibility for the suppliers we cooperate with and expect from them the same level of integrity, honesty and ethical behavior as they can expect from us.

How do you work with phasing out hazardous chemicals?

Our production sites regularly review their chemical inventory and make plans for how to phase out the most hazardous ones, based on local risk assessments.

How much cobalt are you using every year, and how much is recycled in proportion to how much new cobalt do you need to buy?

In 2018, we used about 200 tons of Cobalt. A preliminary assessment showed that 65 to 75% came from recycled materials. We are in the process of refining those values. As we buy back used inserts and send back for recycling, we contribute to securing a source of secondary materials to our raw materials suppliers.

Are you working with reducing your use of cobalt?

We continuously design new materials and processes. Addressing sensitive substances from toxicity or sourcing points of view is an important part of our work, and we strive to minimize their use.

Do you have control of the sourcing of materials?

All our suppliers are on the list of approved melters (RMI). Our in-house provider of tungsten carbide powder (WC), Wolfram Bergbau in Austria, fulfills all the criteria. Read more here:

Why are the boxes for your tools not fully recyclable?

Our product packages are made of different kinds of materials to be able to fulfill all the requirements needed to protect the product in the best possible way. Some of the plastics used have complex chemical compositions and are not recycled in all the countries we are operating in. From a technical point of view, it is possible to recycle them all, but the market for plastic recycling varies greatly from region to region. Sandvik Coromant has a target of 90% circularity by 2030, so this also means we need to change how we use packages, in addition to finding new partners and ways of collaboration.