Sandvik increases recycled carbide content to 75% in PowerCarbide® grades
Sandvik is increasing the share of recycled carbide in its premium PowerCarbide® grades from approximately 50% to up to 75%, reducing reliance on virgin raw materials while maintaining the high performance and durability required in demanding rock drilling applications.
The increased recycled content, marketed as ReCarbide, is already being implemented in production and will become standard in drill bits containing PowerCarbide® grades globally during 2026 and 2027.
ReCarbide is produced from carbide recovered from used drill bits through Sandvik’s long-established global recycling program. Advances in Sandvik’s materials expertise and manufacturing processes have enabled a greater proportion of recovered carbide to be returned to the production of new drill bit inserts without compromising quality or performance.
Increasing the share of recycled carbide brings significant environmental benefits. ReCarbide reduces CO₂e emissions associated with carbide raw material by up to 70% compared with using virgin raw materials. It also reduces reliance on mined tungsten, a limited and increasingly strategic resource for many industries.
“Increasing the recycled content in our carbide while maintaining the performance our customers expect has been an important focus for us,” said Magnus Selling, Rock Tools Sustainability Manager at Sandvik. “With ReCarbide, we can reduce the carbon footprint and use of virgin raw materials in our drill bits while continuing to deliver the quality, durability and performance required in demanding drilling applications.”
Field tests of PowerCarbide® grades containing ReCarbide across multiple applications, including top hammer, down-the-hole and rotary drilling, have demonstrated consistent performance and durability, with enhanced results in many cases, in both surface and underground conditions compared with standard grades.
Recycling and closing the material loop have been part of Sandvik’s sustainability efforts for more than a decade. Since 2023, Sandvik’s global carbide recycling program for used drill bits has been automatically included with purchases of Sandvik rock tools. Carbide extraction units are now in operation across all continents and major mining hubs, expanding Sandvik’s capacity to safely and effectively separate used carbide inserts from drill bit bodies and return the material to the manufacturing loop.
Increasing the use of recycled carbide also strengthens Sandvik’s raw material supply resilience. By recovering carbide from used drill bits and returning it to production, Sandvik reduces its reliance on virgin tungsten while helping secure material availability for continued customer deliveries.
“Recovering more carbide from used drill bits gives us greater control over an important raw material,” said Rickard Andreasson, Vice President Product Line Services, Rock Tools at Sandvik. “Expanding the amount we can return to production strengthens our supply resilience and helps us maintain reliable product availability for customers, while making better use of materials already in circulation.”
For further information, please contact:
Rickard Andreasson
Vice President Product Line Services, Rock Tools
Sandvik
Email: rickard.andreasson@sandvik.com