Manufactured soils are an emerging market for well-screened ferrous and aluminum foundry sands. Interest has increased in this topic following the July 2008 Foundry Sand Soils Forum that was held at The Ohio State University. The November/December 2008 cover story of "Soil & Mulch Producers News" provides an introduction to the topic for commercial soil producers in the United States. read more ...

PA's Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has finally published the long-awaited proposed renewal of the foundry sand beneficial use general permit WMGR019. The renewal substantially revises and extends the beneficial use permit that expired in April of 2006.

The PA Foundry Association has been working with the DEP since late 2005 on the permit conditions. According to PFA's May newsletter, the proposed renewal significantly improves the original permit in several areas. One is the expansion of the permit's allowable chemical concentration levels. The other is the expansion of the acceptable beneficial uses. The original version of WMGR019 authorized qualified foundry sand to be used as roadway construction material and as feedstock for asphalt and cement. The proposed renewal expands the acceptable beneficial uses to also include use as a construction material in athletic fields, buildings, pipe-bedding, trench backfill, parking lots and embankments. The renewal also allows beneficial use of foundry sand as a soil additive or soil substitute.

The renewal is expected to become final in the summer of 2007, following a public comment period extending through July 5. For more information, contact PFA's Chris Moyer.The full text of the proposed renewal can be accessed at http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/pubpartcenter/lib/pubpartcenter/WMGR019-Waste_Foundry_Sand.pdf

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The Industrial Resources Council  (IRC) held its first state-specific joint industrial materials recycling workshop on February 1, 2007, in Little Rock, Arkansas.  This workshop, which was co-sponsored by the Arkansas Highway Department and EPA Regions 4 (Atlanta) and 6 (Dallas) brought together state and local highway engineers, material suppliers, and recycling officials.  FIRST was one of six industrial material associations presenting information on the uses of industrial byproducts in highway and construction applications. State agencies interested in scheduling a similar workshop should contact FIRST or one of the other IRC partners.  read more ...

The Industrial Resources Council, of which FIRST is a founding member, provided a day-long briefing on industrial materials recycling for more than 35 staff members from US EPA.  Attendees included  a number of directors from EPA's Office of Solid Waste, along with sector liaisons from the Office of Economics, Policy, and Innovation.  Presentations may be found on EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/imr/irc-meet/index.htm

A number of suggestions were made as to how EPA and the IRC might work together to increase recycling of non-hazardous industrial materials. Among the action items agreed to at the meeting were scheduling quarterly conference calls between EPA and the IRC, and hosting a "Construction Summit" as an outreach activity to construction industry trade associations.

FIRST Members may view the meeting notes in the Members Information section of FIRST's website.

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At the close of the Soils Overview, a number of EPA staffers piled into two vans for a trip across the Bay Bridge into Oakland, California.  Foundry executives and environmental managers hosted tours of ABI Foundry in Oakland, CA, and Pacific Steel Castings in Berkeley, CA.  The visits were coordinated by AFS Director of Environmental Services Amy Blankenbiller.  FIRST and FHWA staff members accompanied the group.

AFS and FIRST are pleased to arrange local foundry tours for Federal and state agency officials with an interest in foundry sand recycling. For more information, please contact the AFS Washington office at (202) 898-1444.

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