INDUSTRY news
AFW Foundry Launches Sand Reuse Project
AFW Foundry, Lannon, Wis., has begun a metalcasting sand reuse project that is expected to save $85,250 per year in landfi ll costs, in addition to off ering other benefi ts. A spokesperson for AFW said
the program, launched through the Wisconsin Profi table Sustainability Initiative (PSI), also is expected to reduce raw material expenditures and shrink the plant’s environmental footprint. “T e program came along at an
opportune time,” said Amy Dvornik, AFW’s vice president of business development. “We saw a strong opportunity to do the right thing for the environment and make some cost-
eff ective improvements for our business.” Before the sand reclamation
project, AFW was landfi lling 6,500 tons of sand per year. In the fi rst year of the program, the facility now re-uses 70% of the reclaimed sand for production and diverts the remaining 30% (about 1,920 tons) of that material to projects like roadbed and embankment construction. AFW pours nonferrous sand
castings for a range of commercial applications. In recent years, AFW has seen an increase in its nobake business and has leveraged technology to improve effi ciencies. T rough re- engineering of the facility, the company
Quaker City Castings Acquires Additional Building Quaker City Castings, Salem, Ohio,
recently acquired an additional 51,000 sq. ft. of industrial space adjacent to its current facility in Salem, Ohio. “T e new space will give us some
breathing room and let us actually expand and not just reconfi gure our existing fl oor plan,” said Joe Korff , president of Quaker City Castings. Quaker City Castings’ current
expansion plans include adding a sand reclamation unit, as well as expanding various casting processing operations and quality control. T e company’s new space consists of a single building on a site formerly owned by Colfor Manufacturing, a subsidiary of American Axle & Manufacturing, Detroit. “We have to do some work on the building before we can move in, but we expect to be bringing equipment and people into the new space within the next 8 to 12 months,” Korff said. Quaker City Castings is an iron and steel plant producing castings up to several thousand pounds for a variety of markets, including valve and pump, power generation, oil-fi eld and heavy construction equipment. T e company also has a centrifugal casting operation that produces ring products and automotive cylinder liners.
Sept/Oct 2011 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | 13
invested in a sand reclamation system, but 30% of the reclaimed sand still was destined for a landfi ll. T rough PSI, launched by
the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Wisconsin Department of Commerce, AFW was able to perform sampling and analysis of the waste sand. It then applied for and received a Category 2 classifi cation from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. T e designation allows the diverted sand to be certifi ed for benefi cial re-use in approved areas. “PSI guided us through a complex
process to fi nd out what we could start taking action on,” Dvornik said.
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