4/15/2009 2:30:00 AM LETTER 04.15.2009 Recycling way to go
To the Editor:
Today, nearly every business is reliant on a foundry produced casting product with 90 percent of all manufactured goods containing metal castings. An average American home has more than one ton of castings including bathtubs, furnaces, pipes, and appliances. As the 2009 Earth Day nears, it's clear the metal casting industry's importance in our lives is absolute and yet as with most industries there are environmental impacts associated with manufacturing these vital products.
While struggling in this economy, Indiana continues to be one of the largest foundry production states with 75 foundries employing approximately 14,000 Hoosiers. The average Indiana foundry has been in business for 65 years, is family owned and vigorously competes in a global market with countries such as China that pay little attention to their environmental responsibilities. Indiana foundries not only effectively compete in this market when the playing field is level but also lead as environmental stewards in their recycling efforts.
Nationally, more than 14 million tons of scrap steel is recycled annually, scrap that might otherwise go to our landfills. Steel represents only one recycled metal stream among several used by foundries to make castings. Utilizing scrap metal not only conserves raw materials that would otherwise require mining, but also using recycled material over raw material requires 95 percent less energy use in the manufacturing process. Less energy use translates into less raw materials being used by others such as utilities and ultimately lower air emissions and water discharges. Given that every pound of steel recycled saves enough power to light a bulb for 26 hours, the industry saves enough power to light all of Chicago's homes for a year.
Foundry recycling goes well beyond metal scrap though. While 100 million tons of sand is used each year in foundry processes, 94 percent is reused an average of 8-10 times before disposal. Not only does this reduce mining demands upfront, but it also saves valuable landfill space for materials that have no other alternative but disposal as an end result. And, the recycling doesn't end there. Foundry sand that can no longer be reused within the foundry process can still be easily integrated into alternative uses such as road building; general construction; asphalt, concrete, brick, glass, plaster and other materials development; agriculture soil amendment, and more.
Foundries also play a critical role in the production of renewable energy from processes including: wind energy, bio power, geothermal power, solar and nuclear energy all of which rely on castings to produce power.
As we pause to appreciate the planet we live on and our responsibility for it, it's appropriate to recognize Indiana foundries as an industry that is leading the way toward better environmental stewardship and a better place to live as well as providing good jobs with benefits for average Hoosiers.
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