There’s money in muck, we used to say, but failed to do enough to ensure that muck was collected efficiently. Now all that has to change. If you’re in the business of material production, what you put out there must be recycled, both in the interests of environmental protection and enterprise stability.
Nothing must escape job-creation and emission-reduction attention, which is why it was great to listen to Sandvik rock tools division VP Nina Axman refer last week to “a true win, win, win situation for society, our customers and ourselves”. She was talking about the new circular approach that Sandvik is adopting to carbide inserts.
As it turns out, recycling drill-bit carbide can reduce the carbon footprint from cemented carbide insert production by as much as 60% – as well as create important jobs for communities living around mines. We’ve entered the era in which we’re obligated to keep searching and finding recycling opportunities that keep the planet clean and employ people.