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Who buys carbideSandvik carbide recycling: what the buyback takes and how it pays
Sandvik carbide recycling is Sandvik Coromant's buyback program for used carbide inserts and solid carbide tools, and its US terms, as archived in May 2026, take them in any brand. This independent guide compares its two dated US process descriptions and the other ways to sell.
Independent guide. Carbide Buyers USA is not affiliated with Sandvik Coromant. The program details here come from Sandvik Coromant's own published pages, dated where each one is cited. Programs change, so confirm the current terms with Sandvik Coromant before you ship.
What is Sandvik Coromant's carbide recycling program?
Sandvik Coromant runs a buyback program, meaning the tool maker buys used tools back: its US recycling page, as archived in January 2026, says it buys back worn-out carbide tools and reuses them to make brand new ones.
Cemented carbide, as OSHA described it in a 1987 letter, is a mixture of tungsten carbide (WC), cobalt and sometimes other metals. An insert is a small carbide cutting edge that screws onto a steel holder, and an end mill is a rotating cutter ground from a carbide rod.
Sandvik's live pages load by script, so this guide reads dated Internet Archive captures of its own US pages.
Sources: Sandvik Coromant US recycling page (Internet Archive, January 2026); OSHA letter of interpretation, 1987; ITIA newsletter: recycling of tungsten products (May 2018).
Two US process descriptions, side by side
Sandvik Coromant has published two accounts of the US process, and they differ: the recycling page archived in January 2026 runs the sale through customer service, the terms archived in May 2026 through an online platform.
| Step | US recycling page (archived January 2026) | US recycling terms (archived May 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Who buys | Sandvik Coromant issues the purchase order | Sandvik AB |
| How you start | Ask customer service for containers, then get a recycling purchase order number (RRA) and a current price-per-pound quote | Submit every sales order through an online platform Sandvik hosts |
| Containers and packing | Free recycling containers: a box for 40-50 lb of carbide, a can for 500-600 lb | You sort, weigh and package the tools as the online tool instructs |
| Price | A current price-per-pound quote | Agreed prices that include your own sorting, weighing, packaging, storing and handling costs |
| Weight | After inspection, the purchase order states the confirmed weight | You weigh the tools yourself, following the online tool's instructions |
| Payment | You invoice with a remit-to address, and a check is mailed | Payment terms of 30 days from Sandvik's receipt of an undisputed, properly issued invoice, sent only after collection; or a credit against a future Sandvik invoice |
The terms are newer and may have replaced the customer-service process, though neither page says so; ask Sandvik Coromant which one applies before you fill a container.
Sources: Sandvik Coromant US recycling page (Internet Archive, January 2026); Sandvik Coromant US recycling terms (Internet Archive, May 2026).
What Sandvik accepts: any brand, within size and weight limits
Sandvik's program takes used carbide inserts and solid carbide round tools, and its May 2026 terms add any brand. The US page, as archived in January 2026, says all carbide inserts and solid carbide tools, coated or uncoated, will be accepted, then lists restrictions: only stand-alone inserts and solid carbide round tools, with no carbide connected or brazed to another material.
The terms, as archived in May 2026, cover used inserts and round tools of any coating, dimension and brand, plus solid carbide tools under 160 mm (about 6.3 in) long and under 8 kg (about 17.6 lb) net. Both lists name tools only, so soft scrap (the grinding sludge, loose powder, swarf and turnings that USGS sets apart from hard scrap, meaning solid pieces such as cemented carbide parts) is not on either; ask Sandvik Coromant before sending any.
Sources: Sandvik Coromant US recycling page (Internet Archive, January 2026); Sandvik Coromant US recycling terms (Internet Archive, May 2026); USGS Open-File Report 2005-1028 (tungsten recycling).
What the Sandvik recycling program leaves out
Sandvik's terms, as archived in May 2026, exclude ceramic and cermet inserts, CBN (cubic boron nitride) and PCD (polycrystalline diamond) inserts, and HSS (high-speed steel) tools with or without a brazed carbide tip. The January 2026 US page also turns away cermet and ceramic inserts and anything brazed or attached.
Brazing joins carbide to steel with a filler metal; a 2019 study, for example, brazed carbide to steel with a silver-copper filler.
Sources: Sandvik Coromant US recycling terms (Internet Archive, May 2026); Sandvik Coromant US recycling page (Internet Archive, January 2026); Materials (Basel) 2019, carbide-steel brazing study.
Sandvik carbide recycling price: how it is set
None of the Sandvik pages this guide draws on publishes a price per pound. The January 2026 US page has you get a current per-pound quote with the RRA number before you return anything. Sandvik Coromant's 2026 Global Recycling Day release, archived in May 2026, says “The recovered material is purchased at the current market price”.
The May 2026 terms add that agreed prices include all your own costs of sorting, weighing, packaging, storing and handling, so expect no separate line for that work. With no routine published price for tungsten-bearing scrap (USGS, 2005), the useful check on one quote is another quote for the same carbide.
Sources: Sandvik Coromant US recycling page (Internet Archive, January 2026); Sandvik Coromant Global Recycling Day 2026 release (Internet Archive, May 2026); Sandvik Coromant US recycling terms (Internet Archive, May 2026); USGS Open-File Report 2005-1028 (tungsten recycling).
How Sandvik pays: check, invoice or credit
Sandvik pays against your invoice: by check on the older page, by payment or credit under the newer terms. As archived in January 2026, the page has Sandvik Coromant confirm the weight on a purchase order, after which you invoice with a remit-to address and a check is mailed.
Under the May 2026 terms, you may invoice only after Sandvik collects the tools at the agreed pick-up location or collection point. The terms set payment at 30 days from Sandvik's receipt of an undisputed, properly issued invoice, or the amount is credited against a future Sandvik invoice. A credit spends like money only if you buy from Sandvik, so ask in writing which method your sale will use.
Sources: Sandvik Coromant US recycling page (Internet Archive, January 2026); Sandvik Coromant US recycling terms (Internet Archive, May 2026).
Seco's recycling program, as its own page states it
Seco's recycling page, which prints no region or date, takes any carbide product, bars and anvils among them, and refuses steel, ceramic and cermet. It lists PCD/PCBN tipped inserts as suitable and solid PCD, solid PCBN, cermets and ceramics as unsuitable, because they need expensive reprocessing.
Its bins run from a small cup (about 2-3 kg) through a 20 kg box to a 350 kg drum. When a bin is full you contact Seco for collection; Seco sorts and weighs the carbide on receipt and says the price depends on the market.
Sources: Seco Tools recycling page.
Other ways to sell what Sandvik's program excludes
Excluded pieces can still be sold. An ITIA newsletter says the solder on brazed parts has to be removed before processing, and names carbide attached, brazed or cast into steel as the main reason those products are recycled less.
A worn drill head that is mostly steel by weight can land in a steel scrap tray, where its tungsten and cobalt are diluted and lost, according to Zeiler and colleagues (2021). Their paper shows HSS scrap going to an HSS smelter.
Other tool makers may run programs with their own lists, so ask them or your distributor. We buy carbide in any form and any brand, brazed pieces included: sellers in any state can ship to us, with the shipping paid by us, and in California, Arizona and Nevada we pick up in any city. We pay cash where state law allows.
Sources: ITIA newsletter: recycling of tungsten products (May 2018); Zeiler et al. 2021, tungsten recycling (ITIA-hosted copy).
How to compare a Sandvik offer with other offers
Compare offers on what reaches your account, not the price per pound alone. Ask every buyer:
- The price per pound, and which forms it covers: inserts, solid round tools, brazed pieces.
- Who pays to ship or collect, and what sorting and packing the price expects from you, as Sandvik's May 2026 terms spell out.
- Whose scale sets the paid weight; NIST Handbook 44 (2026 edition) requires a scale used in direct sales to be placed so the customer can read it and watch the weighing.
- How you are paid, and what happens to rejected pieces.
The offer calculator lines up the answers, and the buyback programs guide covers other makers' programs, and where to sell carbide covers every other buyer. Once you have Sandvik's number, send photos and a rough weight through our quote form and compare the offers.
Sources: NIST Handbook 44, 2026 edition; Sandvik Coromant US recycling terms (Internet Archive, May 2026).
Questions people ask
Does the Sandvik recycling program accept other brands?
Yes. Its US terms, as archived in May 2026, cover used carbide inserts and round tools of whatever brand, within the limits above.
What is the Sandvik carbide recycling price per pound?
No per-pound figure appears on the Sandvik pages this guide reads. The US page, as archived in January 2026, gives a current quote on request, and a 2026 Sandvik Coromant release says material is bought at the current market price.
Can brazed carbide tools go into Sandvik Coromant recycling?
No. Its January 2026 US page bars carbide brazed or connected to other material. We buy carbide in any form, brazed pieces included, through our quote form.
Does Sandvik pay for recycled carbide in cash?
The Sandvik descriptions this guide reads name a mailed check (US page, as archived in January 2026) and payment on 30-day terms from an invoice or a credit against a future Sandvik invoice (US terms, as archived in May 2026). Ask Sandvik Coromant about any other method.
Keep reading
Manufacturer buyback programs
What the tool makers' recycling programs take, who can use them and how they pay
Kennametal carbide recycling
How Kennametal's program works, who it suits, and the other ways to sell
Offer comparison calculator
Put two or three offers side by side and see what each pays after shipping and deductions
How buyers price carbide
Tungsten content, the market, hard and soft scrap, and what a buyer deducts
Have carbide to sell?
Tell us what form it is in and about how much it weighs, and add a few photos. Ship it from any state and we pay the shipping, or we pick up anywhere in California, Arizona and Nevada.