88    DEVELOPMENTAL STRATEGY FOR THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF SOLID WASTE
RECLAMATION: FOUNDRY INDUSTRY
Raymond W. Regan Sr., Associate Professor
Luke G. Contos, Research Assistant
Department of Civil Engineering and
Environmental Resources Research Institute
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
INTRODUCTION
The need for improved cost-effective technologies and management strategies for handling industrial solid wastes in an environmentally safe manner remains a challenge for U.S. industries and the
engineering profession.' Over the past decade much emphasis has been put on efforts for hazardous
and toxic waste (HTW) minimization, recovery and reuse.2 Comparable needs for improved residual
(non-hazardous) solid wastes (RSW) from industrial sources have received less attention.
PROGRAM
This paper describes an industry-wide approach by the Process Recovery Corporation, Inc. (PRC)
for implementing many of the desired aspects of a modern solid wastes management strategy, including waste minimization and beneficial reuse of process by-products. In a way, the research approach
was somewhat unorthodox in that significant efforts were made to include industry, government and
university representatives in the on-going development of the research.
Also, the implementability of the technical findings as provided by the University researchers was
suggested to be improved by the early and continuing input of foundrymen, regulators and government officials.
Therefore, the strategic development of the project presented includes at least three main components. Simply stated, these components describe the "what", "how" and "why" of the technical as well
as the implementation of the PRC waste management facility.
BACKGROUND
The subject industries for this paper are relatively small, traditional type foundries operating in
Southeastern Pennsylvania. Results presented were developed as part of a Ben Franklin partnership
(BFP) between the Advanced Technology Center of Northern and Central Pennsylvania, the PRC and
The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) (September 1, 1985 through August 31, 1989). PRC is
headquartered in Reading, PA and represents about 33 foundries generally located in that area. A
general goal of PRC was to establish a centralized facility for the collective management of RSW from
its members providing options for the reclamation of their sand for reuse, finding alternative uses for
other foundry wastes and managing ultimate residuals by landfilling.
Researchers from the PSU assisted the PRC in several aspects of the project. The descriptions in the
following sections of the paper highlight the research conducted by the Environmental Resources
Research Institute (ERR1). Overall, the research staff included expertise from environmental engineers (Civil Engineering Department and ERR1), industrial and management systems engineers
(1MSE) and material scientists of the Material Research Laboratory (MRL).
45th Purdue Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings, © 1991 Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan 48118.
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