Material recycling

Carbide inserts, tips and grinding sludge,
graded by content.

A tool room can fill a caddy with inserts, brazed tips and worn cutters during routine tool replacement. Drill Bits Recyclers buys carbide inserts, end mills, dies and grinding sludge from workshops across WA and grades each batch by tungsten and cobalt content.

Collection across WA, no cost for the bin or the backload freightMalaga yard at 2/89 Pavers CircleB2B only: manufacturers, tool rooms and engineering workshops
Why specialty carbide recycling

Keep carbide inserts in their own
material stream.

Carbide inserts, brazed tips and grinding sludge need to stay out of the general steel stream. We separate solid carbide, attached steel and sludge before pricing.

What affects the price:

  • Tungsten and cobalt content
  • Cobalt or nickel binder and coatings
  • Steel attached to brazed tips
  • Moisture in grinding sludge

Each batch is priced against the current market price for tungsten. Send photos of the load for an assessment.

A quotation for a batch of inserts carries its own expiry, usually 24 to 72 hours, because the tungsten market price underneath it moves. If the batch turns up mixed with steel shims or packaging, we deduct the assessed weight of that material rather than pricing the whole tray as contaminated.

Payment goes out by EFT once grading is signed off, and most settlement-ready batches are paid the same day. If you’d rather see how we sort a load before sending one, a walk-through at Malaga is free, though it needs to be booked in advance.

Used indexable carbide inserts collected for recyclingTungsten · W74
What we accept

Carbide forms
we buy.

Turning and milling inserts

Indexable, coated or uncoated, any grade.

Indexable tips

Loose or still in the caddy.

Brazed tips

On the shank or removed.

End mills and cutters

Solid carbide rotary tooling, worn or broken.

Dies and punches

Cold heading, wire drawing, extrusion and coining.

Grinding sludge and fines

Carbide grinding residue, even moist.

Our process

Four steps for
a workshop load.

Each load is logged, separated by form and graded for tungsten and cobalt content. Coatings, attached steel and moisture are recorded before payment, and the itemised report shows the breakdown.

Send a photo, then it's logged on arrival

A phone photo of the load is enough to start. It gets a reference number before any material is separated.

Step 1
Inserts, tips, cutters and sludge are separated by form

Solid inserts, brazed tips, cutters and sludge are kept in separate batches.

Step 2
Each batch is graded on tungsten and cobalt content

We check the carbide for tungsten, cobalt, coatings and attached steel.

Step 3
Payment is processed with an itemised report

After grading, payment is arranged and the report lists each material stream.

Step 4
01
Send a photo, then it's logged on arrival
02
Inserts, tips, cutters and sludge are separated by form
03
Each batch is graded on tungsten and cobalt content
04
Payment is processed with an itemised report
Who we work with

Manufacturers and workshops
send us the most insert scrap.

Manufacturers

Inserts and dies replaced at the end of a production run.

Engineering workshops

Tool room caddies of worn inserts and cutters.

Mining site workshops

Inserts and tips pulled during scheduled maintenance.

Drilling contractor maintenance bays

Worn inserts and brazed tips from rig servicing.

Our commitments

Why work with
Drill Bits Recyclers.

Whether it’s a single caddy of inserts or a full tool crib clean-out, these commitments hold on every job.

01
Logged on arrival
Every load gets a reference number on arrival before sorting starts.
02
Graded on content
Inserts, tips and sludge are assessed on tungsten and cobalt content.
03
Paid after sign-off
Once grading is signed off, an itemised report goes out with payment.
04
Traceable
Every job has a paper trail from arrival through to the material's final destination.
ESG & responsible sourcing

Carbide stays in
the tungsten supply.

1.3M+ kg
Recycled since 2022
Everything recovered through the yard since 2022, insert batches included.
22 to 100%
Impact reduction, by category
The reported reduction shifts with the metal and the category behind each figure.
Every load
One record per batch
Every insert batch is weighed and logged on its own, useful for a tool room's own purchasing records.
Impact reduction reported for carbide recycling
As reported in Furberg, Arvidsson and Molander, Journal of Cleaner Production 209 (2019).
Lowest reported cut Furberg et al. (2019)
22%
Highest reported cut Set by the metal and category studied
100%

The range reflects the mix of metals and categories in the study, not a figure specific to this yard.

On the paperwork
SumMaterial recovered since 2022
BatchWeight record per batch
CitedFurberg et al. (2019)
Spread22 to 100% by impact category
Keep carbide in its own material stream

Get your tool crib priced
on tungsten content.

Send a photo of what’s in the bin and we’ll tell you what’s separable before you book a collection.

Malaga yard • WA-wide collection • Weight and recovery records