Turn trash into cash

Machine shops that simply discard their used carbide drills, end mills and indexable inserts are missing a trick. There’s money to be made and tooling specialist MMC Hardmetal UK is launching a carbide recycling scheme that benefits both bottom line profitability and the environment. The company provided Machinery & Manufacturing with all the details.

As a member of the Mitsubishi Materials Group, MMC Hardmetal UK Ltd knows the importance of supporting the circular economy principle by promoting the re-usability of products and materials. The focus on recycling used carbide fits neatly with the group’s corporate philosophy: For People, Society and the Earth.

“After the success of a pilot scheme in Germany, expanding the service across the UK was an obvious step,” states Amy Holmes, the new Customer Services Supervisor at MMC Hardmetal UK. “We’ll now be providing customers with eco-friendly total solutions by offering them a complete used tool purchasing process that nurtures confidence and peace of mind. We know other recycling services are already operating in the UK, but we aim to make the process as easy as possible by providing customers with containers and implementing a simple call and collect system.”

80% target

Reserves of the earth’s raw tungsten are finite, and in order to preserve this precious metal an ambitious target has been set. It involves growing the rate of using worn carbide tools to make new cutters from around 30% presently to 80% by 2030.

“The expansion of the used carbide recycling initiative in the UK and across other European countries is an important part of Mitsubishi Materials’ circular economic strategy,” says Amy Holmes. “The scheme not only has valuable environmental benefits, but also provides service and added value to users of Mitsubishi cutting tools in the UK. We’re receiving more environmental questions from customers and news of our recycling scheme will make it an even hotter topic at machine shops across the country.”

Jason Purcell, General Manager of the UK office, adds: “Mitsubishi Materials is one of a handful of companies that start from the initial mining of raw materials and move through sintering, grinding and coating, to applications engineering and sales. We’re completing the whole circle with the introduction of carbide recycling, where we carefully reprocess and recycle a collection of used tools before using it in the manufacture of new Mitsubishi cutters.”

Drills, mills and inserts

The MMC Hardmetal UK scheme accepts any used carbide drills, end mills and indexable inserts. To simplify the process, the carbide tools do not require sorting. Taking part in the scheme simply involves sending an email to the company at [email protected], which will prompt the issue of an order form for receiving the collection boxes and a form for requesting pick-up of filled collection boxes. MMC Hardmetal UK will collect boxes free of charge on a pre-arranged date.

Jason Purcell says: “Upon the receipt of collection boxes, we sort and analyse the carbide scrap to ensure only the best-quality recycled materials go into making new Mitsubishi cutting tools. We value the quality of the final products that use recycled materials over quantity.”

Customers of MMC Hardmetal UK will receive a report outlining the exact weight and quality of the carbide provided, with the company providing notification of the total scrap value within two weeks of collection. Information about terms and conditions, current prices, and renumeration options are available from the MMC Hardmetal recycling team. Customers typically receive cash or account credit towards future purchases of Mitsubishi tools.

Any UK customer of the company can participate, including those buying from distributors or catalogues. In fact, MMC Hardmetal UK will even collect used carbide from other cutting tool manufacturers. Again, no sorting is necessary.

Top service levels

“Although we’re already known as a provider of first-class tools, this initiative will be an important step for customers to know that we also provide a top level of service, not just in recycling but across our whole business,” concludes Jason Purcell.

Alongside the UK, Germany will also roll out the used carbide recycling scheme, with France, Spain, Poland and Italy hopefully following suit in the near future.