Reduction of environmental impact in hardmetal technologies

As energy, environmental remediation and raw material costs for hardmetal production escalate with increasing demand, the need for developing and implementing technologies for reducing environmental impact becomes more urgent, while, at the same time, reducing material cost. A range of technologies can be employed for recycling hard and soft hardmetal scrap which consume less energy and require lower capital investment than for virgin powder. Performance and processing targets with recycled materials must be equivalent to those from virgin material. Conventional solvent based processing can be replaced by water based processing of hardmetal compositions to reduce environmentally damaging emissions and associated costs. This will be particularly useful as government regulations move to reduce or eliminate emission of organic solvents. Raw material consumption can be reduced by employing near-net-shape or net-shape technologies, since many hardmetal parts are finished by hard grinding, which generates grinding sludge. Partial or complete replacement of WC/Co with other hardmetals is another strategy worthy of consideration in reducing the impact of hardmetal production on the environment.