Foundries are the ultimate recyclers. For generations, we have created new products out of recycled steel scrap and iron and we re-use many of the raw materials used in creating durable castings. However, foundries are also energy-intensive businesses and it is imperative we keep finding smarter ways to use our natural resources.
At ThyssenKrupp Waupaca, we have a 10-year vision for sustainability with achievable goals for reducing our environmental impact:
- Reduce energy use intensity by 25%
- Promote alternative processes and maintain state of the air pollution control technologies
- Reduce spent foundry sand generation by 30% while promoting offsite reuse/recycling opportunities of remaining spent foundry materials to achieve zero landfill disposal
- Reduce water use consumption by 80%.
ThyssenKrupp Waupaca is setting the pace in the industry, committing to continuous environmental sustainability. Since 2004, we have engaged in significant energy conservation programs including using foundry process waste heat for building/hot water heating, installing energy efficient lighting, and the widespread use of premium high efficiency motors.
ThyssenKrupp Waupaca re-melts and re-uses more than 800,000 tons of metal annually. And materials used to process that metal, such as the sand required to make molds for casting production, are also recovered. Seventy percent, or more than 400,000 tons of this sand material is beneficially reused for road and general construction, agricultural use, and geotechnical fill each year.
In 2009, ThyssenKrupp Waupaca received the
Wisconsin Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence at our Plant 1 foundry in Waupaca, Wisconsin. In this project, the industry-leading heat recovery system used waste heat from melting scrap iron and used it for heating the facility through the Wisconsin winters. This project along with other efforts reduced energy use the equivalent of removing approximately 3,200 passenger vehicles from U.S. highways.
And, one of the first 32 charter companies in the U.S., ThyssenKrupp Waupaca is voluntarily cutting energy use by 25 percent over the next decade through the
Save Energy Now LEADER program, a new U.S. Department of Energy initiative designed to foster energy efficiency and long-term sustainability.