The Foundry Industry…Recycling Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
This brochure describes the industry’s recycling efforts during all phases of the metal casting process.
Beneficial Use Manual for Foundries
This AFS publication outlines the steps that foundries need to take to change foundry byproducts from waste materials to useful products for other industries or governmental agencies. The manual was prepared by a number of foundry operators with successful sand reuse programs, and outlines a number of specific areas that include initial business planning, locating markets, processing and screening material, and other practical guidance.
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AFS Sand Benchmark Survey Report
In 2006, AFS undertook a national survey to develop a benchmark for how much foundry sand is being beneficially reused. According to the study, 28 percent of casting sands were reused outside of landfill applications. https://afsinc.s3.amazonaws.com/Documents/FIRST/afs_beneficial_reuse_%20survey07.pdf
AFS Metalcasting Facility Sand Locator
With support from US EPA and FHWA, AFS-FIRST created an interactive mapping program that allows potential sand users to locate sources of foundry sand. The mapping program is populated with sand foundry information gleaned from the AFS Foundry and Diecaster Directory, with an overlay that allows individual foundries to provide more information concerning how much sand they have and the proper contact for sand reuse information.
http://www.envcap.org/statetools/fsand/
AFS Foundry and Diecaster Directory
AFS publishes and maintains an online directory of North American foundries and diecasters. The directory can be sorted by state or by sand type.
AFS Beneficial Reuse Directory
This tool is intended for foundries to search for ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, and Portland cement facilities that may be able to use foundry sands in their manufactured products.
http://www.afsinc.org/reuse.cfm
Metalcasting Library
The AFS searchable on-line library includes more than 16,000 AFS articles, publications and research reports on various metalcasting topics. Articles in the main AFS library are copyrighted to AFS, and include a number of AFS-supported research reports and papers pertaining to sand reuse and recycling, including AFS-sponsored research on that topic. The AFS-FIRST portion of the searchable library also contains a number of third party reports, including EPA publications, university research reports, and articles relevant to the overall topic of sand reuse and recycling.
Metalcasting Video
AFS has developed a series of web-based resources that describe basic metal casting processes. Among these is a five-minute documentary that was shown on PBS in 2008. The “Spotlight on Metalcasting” video can be viewed at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI6fiuSypIc