Circularity – from raw material to tool

Product and process sustainability, Walter Green CO₂ offsetting, health and safety at work, fairness in dealings with each other – circularity at Walter involves processes and people to an equal extent. For the products, for example thanks to reconditionability and recyclability. The holistic approach throughout the entire product life cycle makes Walter a pioneer in terms of sustainability – across the industry.

Raw material, tool production, reconditioning
Solid carbide tools consist of about 90% tungsten, a comparatively rare metal. Walter recycles carbide tools where there is the greatest expertise for doing so – at the site at which the raw materials were obtained.
With WOLFRAM Bergbau und Hütten AG – the only tungsten smelter outside Asia and Russia – as a member of its corporate group, Walter is a tool manufacturer with thorough expertise in obtaining and processing raw materials, handling the tools themselves and reconditioning them. What is more, we stand for conflict-free, ethical sourcing of raw materials.

The Walter sustainability promise:
"The carbide from the Walter recycling service is fully reused by the company
in indexable inserts and round tools."

90% of the resources used by us are recyclable. But circularity at Walter involves even more than this.

Our workflows:

• Walter products and packaging must be at least 90% recyclable
• By reducing the waste generated in our production processes by 50%
  

Our offers for customers:

• Increasing material and resource efficiency is part of all development projects
• Together, we are developing business models for recycling and reconditioning

Our requirements of suppliers:

• We expect a resource traceability of 90% from our key suppliers

Recycling pays off all around

By recycling carbide tools, we take on full responsibility for the environment – and ensure that valuable raw materials remain in circulation. This pays off. For you and for us.
Walter heat treats the raw materials in accordance with the value of the material. Of course, we adapt the repurchase prices regularly to current development on the raw materials market. As with its reconditioning services, Walter provides special collecting containers for the recycling service that are collected free of charge – irrespective of the original manufacturer of the material.

Conflict-free, ethical procurement of raw materials

WOLFRAM Bergbau und Hütten AG stands for demonstrably conflict-free use of raw materials in the tungsten industry. As the only European tungsten smelter, it is a member of the "Tin Supply Chain Initiative" and maintains close contact with relevant organisations, such as the OECD, CFSI and EU. WOLFRAM has committed itself to tracing concentrates from the mine to the smelter – annually verified by independent audits.