Management, Minimization, and Recycling of Metal Casting Wastes

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. The metal casting industry, also known as the foundry industry, is one of the largest recyclers in the world. For centuries, this industry has been converting a huge volume (e.g., 15 to 20 million tons in the U.S.) of scrap metal that would otherwise be disposed in landfills, into manufactured useful products. This scrap metal forms the raw material charged into furnaces of the foundry facility and converted into usable castings. The casting categories include many general ferrous and nonferrous metals and their alloys, including iron, steel, aluminum, copper, magnesium, and zinc. Major enduse markets cross all sectors of the global economy, examples being the automotive industry, transportation equipment, construction, mining and oil field machinery, and industrial machinery.