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U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

    OIT Times: West Virginia Foundry Sand Now Recyclable

    September 23, 2000

    Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Lou Minehardt (Chair of the IOF-West Virginia Metal Casting Group) and OIT State IOFImage of the United States with West Virginia Highlighted and Metalcasting Teams, West Virginia foundries are now able to reuse spent foundry sand.

    West Virginia metalcasters previously faced significant hurdles in finding acceptable, beneficial reuses of spent foundry sand. Used foundry sand had been classified as an industrial waste that required landfilling thereby precluding its use as recyclable material. This imposed expensive waste management costs on the industry and eliminated opportunities for a beneficial resalable foundry byproduct.

    However, as part of the WV state effort, Minehardt successfully demonstrated to the state legislators and government officials that spent foundry sand could safely and successfully be recycled. Subsequently, West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection published Spent Foundry Beneficial Use Guidelines which became effective on June 1, 2000.

    This resolved a significant waste management issue for the metalcasting industry and opened new doors for recycling.