Used sand management in foundries

Used foundry sand (UFS) represents the highest amount (90% approximately) of solid wastes generated by foundries. At present the general trend is disposal in landfills with two drawbacks: consumption of raw materials and saturation of existing landfills. Moreover, tighter legislative controls have led to an increase in disposal costs in Spain and all over Europe. In the light of this situation, the Basque Country and Navarre Foundrymen Association (AFV) promoted the constitution of a group of companies and technical institutes to look for alternatives to remedy this situation. This paper analyses the different possibilities existing to reduce the volume of used sands, by means of minimization and reclamation techniques, internally in the foundries, or reuse as a by-product in other industrial sectors (cement, concrete and asphalt). The final objective is to provide practical information for the introduction of the waste management concept in foundries to achieve the target of zero waste deposition in the near future.