Overmolding alternatives, especially for tools

No one is forcing you to use overmolded parts. If this design for disassembly & recycling is a priority, you could make housings from metal, or from rigid plastics that are only assembled. You can also petition your company to start an internal recycling/refurbishing process.

The reality though is in most cases, sustainability falls too little too late. The government can’t even agree on global warming, you can petition your local municipality for an e-Waste recycling program, but even with that the reality is we ship 90% of that waste to China, where they just tear it apart with zero regard for the earth.

As long as some country is willing to take our garbage, we will never have incentives that make this viable from a business perspective. It will most likely take the dystopian future where the sun gets blocked out from the smoke clouds and we’re all regretting our decisions to fuel consumerism.