• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.3-17
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• 2021

Currently, there is a drain of natural resources, environmental contamination, generation of waste, and problems of the earth's climate by CO₂ emissions according to mass production and overconsumption of mankind. It is effectuated by a linear economy that involves manufacturing products, use, and waste repeatedly; there is no guarantee in the lives of humans and the future of the globe if we do not find alternative proposals. For a sustainable developing society and to overcome the present global problems, we must successively change to a circular economy from a linear economy. The circular economy has the concept of an extended value chain in recovery, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling, instead of discarding after the use of manufactured goods. New business models of circular economy have been realized to save the earth ecology and sustainable developing society in serious recognition of the linear economy system. New business models are established by creating a vision and developing a program, and by renovating technology, law, and financial support through a worldwide government policy.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2022

Tungsten carbide is widely used in carbide tools. However, its production process generates a significant number of end-of-life products and by-products. Therefore, it is necessary to develop efficient recycling methods and investigate the remanufacturing of tungsten carbide using recycled materials. Herein, we have recovered 99.9% of the tungsten in cemented carbide hard scrap as tungsten oxide via an alkali leaching process. Subsequently, using the recovered tungsten oxide as a starting material, tungsten carbide has been produced by employing a self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method. SHS is advantageous as it reduces the reaction time and is energy-efficient. Tungsten carbide with a carbon content of 6.18 wt % and a particle size of 116 nm has been successfully synthesized by optimizing the SHS process parameters, pulverization, and mixing. In this study, a series of processes for the high-efficiency recycling and quality improvement of tungsten-based materials have been developed.