Feds Eye Concrete For Foundry-Sand Reuse

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a guide to help states realize productive use of millions of tons of foundry sand in such applications

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a guide to help states realize productive use of millions of tons of foundry sand in such applications as concrete, construction fill and road base. Each year, metal casters use about 100 million tons of sand for product molds, but then dispose of about 10 million tons. State and market barriers result in only about one million tons being reused, EPA reports. State barriers include the time required for approval of reuse requests; overly strict requirements for testing by-products proposed for reuse; and, insufficient outreach on how to apply for the beneficial use activity.

The agency’s new State Toolkit for Developing Beneficial Reuse Programs for Foundry Sand can be downloaded from www.epa.gov/sectors/metalcasting/foundry.html. It was developed through the Sector Strategies program in EPA’s Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation, in partnership with the foundry industry and EPA’s Resource Conservation Challenge. The latter targets foundry sands, coal combustion by-products, and construction and demolition debris, each presenting strong reuse opportunities.