The scrap and recycling industry doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Every ton of carbide, tungsten, and high-alloy material that moves through Tungco’s operations was once part of a tool, a turbine, a pipe, or a piece of industrial equipment built and maintained by welders. Understanding that upstream world — where metal lives before it becomes scrap — is part of what makes Tungco a smarter buyer and a stronger partner.
That’s the thinking behind Episode 201 of Cliff’s Notes, where Tungco CEO Cliff Nance sits down with Austin Hargett of weld.com to talk about high-pressure pipe welding, the industrial trade show circuit, and what the welding world looks like in 2026.
🎧 Watch Episode 201 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vibXa9X1C_Q
Why a Scrap & Recycling Company is Talking About Welding
If you operate in the scrap and recycling space, you already know the punchline: the highest-value materials we recover almost always come from the most demanding industrial applications. Power plants. Refineries. Aerospace. Oil and gas. These are environments where welders like Austin and the weld.com community are working with high-pressure pipe, exotic alloys, and tolerances that don’t forgive mistakes.
When that equipment reaches end-of-life, it enters the scrap stream. The carbide cutting tools used to machine those pipes? They eventually land in Tungco’s recycling pipeline. The tungsten, cobalt, and specialty alloys embedded in industrial wear parts? Same story.
Knowing how this material is made and used helps Tungco do three things better:
- Identify and grade incoming material more accurately — including hard-to-classify alloys
- Build relationships with the industrial customers who generate the highest-value scrap streams
- Forecast supply trends based on what’s happening in welding, manufacturing, and infrastructure
What Austin Hargett Brings to the Conversation
Austin’s background is in high-pressure pipe welding — specifically the kind of work done in power plants and refineries, where weld quality is a safety-critical issue and certifications matter. weld.com has built a sizable community around exactly this kind of high-skill, high-stakes welding work, and Austin has become one of the recognizable voices guiding tradespeople through the realities of the industry.
In Episode 201, he and Cliff cover ground that matters to anyone who buys, sells, or moves industrial metals:
- CONEXPO 2026 takeaways — what the construction and industrial equipment world is signaling for the year ahead
- The state of skilled trades — who’s entering the welding workforce, what they’re being trained on, and where the gaps are
- High-pressure applications — why power plants and refineries remain a benchmark for metallurgical demands
- The industrial trade show circuit — and what shows like ReMA and CONEXPO reveal about cross-industry trends
It’s the kind of conversation that doesn’t usually happen between a welder and a tungsten recycler — which is exactly why it’s worth having.
Why This Matters for Scrap & Recycling Operators
A few takeaways that translate directly to the recycling floor:
Welding consumables are a scrap stream worth watching. Tungsten electrodes, carbide-tipped tools, and high-alloy filler materials all carry meaningful recovery value. Operations that work closely with welding shops can tap into a consistent, high-grade flow.
Skilled trades growth = future scrap growth. When more welders are trained and more pipe is laid in power and energy infrastructure, the long-tail scrap supply 5–15 years out grows with it. Industry health upstream is a leading indicator for material supply downstream.
Trade shows are intelligence networks. Cliff and Austin both highlight how much real information moves on the floor at events like CONEXPO and ReMA — not in the press releases, but in the conversations between people actually doing the work.
About Tungco
Tungco is one of the largest tungsten and carbide recyclers in North America, recovering high-value materials from industrial wear parts, cutting tools, and end-of-life equipment. We work directly with manufacturers, machine shops, and scrap dealers to keep critical materials in productive circulation — reducing reliance on virgin mining and supporting a more resilient industrial supply chain.
Learn more about how we buy carbide and tungsten scrap at [tungco.com].
About Cliff’s Notes
Cliff’s Notes is Tungco’s podcast hosted by CEO Cliff Nance, featuring conversations with leaders, builders, and operators across the industrial economy — from welders and machinists to manufacturers and recyclers. New episodes drop regularly across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Spreaker.
