Research progress and development trend of scrap cemented carbide recycling

The production of cemented carbide has increased in recent years in China because of dramatically increasing demand for cemented carbide in traditional application fields. In the process of production and application, cemented carbide scrap has also gradually increased. Tungsten content in these materials is about 40%~95%, and cobalt content about 3%~20%.Therefore, the efficient recovery of tungsten and cobalt is not only of great economic value, but also of great significance for relieving the demand pressure of tungsten and cobalt resources in China. The research status, basic principle, recovery process and recovery method of zinc melting method, the mechanical crushing method, electrochemical method, oxidation method and acid leaching method were reviewed. It is pointed out that the main research direction in the future is to improve the existing recovery technology and develop a process with low recovery cost, low pollution and high quality of recycled materials by combining various processes.