Thermal Sand Reclamation

Bet on Proof, Not Promises

EnviroAir’s In-House Testing Facility Uses Your Own Sand to Guarantee Performance

For foundry facilities, capital expenses are large, long-term investment that affect operations for years, pre-purchase testing is essential for sustainable growth. The goal is to ensure your expenditure delivers measurable impact with high confidence before committing to finite funds.

A sand reclamation system is an example of a quick payback for your operation. By validating performance before you invest, with your actual material, we lower your risk and give your team real data to compare operations – so you’re investing in results, not claims. For foundries driving sustainability goals, your testing shows exactly how much waste reduction and sand reuse you can achieve, strengthening both your ROI and Environmental case.

Because each foundry’s sand is unique, spent sand can vary significantly, based on the metals cast, binding materials used, and production processes. Testing your own spent sand can ensure that EnviroAir’s system is properly calibrated to your specific materials. This not only proves the system will deliver the promised benefits with high confidence before a foundry commits to allocating funds for the equipment.

WHY IT MATTERS	WHAT YOU GET
Validation with your actual sand	Run your actual foundry sand through the system and see exactly how it performs with your specific binder types, sand composition, and operation conditions. No guesswork.
Data-Driven Decision Making	Get hard test results: LOI 9Loss of Ignition), acid demand value, fineness index, grain size distribution.
Quality Confirmation Before Purchase	Verify your reclaimed sand properties BEFORE you commit. Proof, not promises.
Avoid Costly Mistakes	Prevent investing in a system that doesn’t work with your specific sand/binder mix. This avoids issues with poor casting quality, operational headaches, and wasted capital.
Justification	Testing data gives you the facts to prove the system will hit your cost-reduction and quality goals. Make the case to management with confidence.

Although EnviroAir systems have low operating costs (less than $7.00 per ton), testing in their in-house facility will confirm that this applies to your foundry’s specific sand and quantify the actual savings from reduced disposal penalties and virgin sand purchases.

If your foundry is facing costly disposal penalties and growing waste sand stockpiles, contact EnviroAir to test your sand and invest in equipment that meets your specific needs.

Turning Foundry Pain Points into Competitive Advantages

Sand reclamation systems directly address several of the biggest cost, and competitive pressures facing U.S. primary metals – especially foundries – by cutting input costs, lowering waste and emissions, and improving process efficiency.

Cost and Competitiveness

Reclaiming sand reduces purchases of new foundry sand and binders, insulating operations from price volatility and dependence on importing specialty sands, and case studies demonstrate reclaimed-sand yields above 90-95%, delivering significant dollar-per-ton savings when disposal and new-sand costs are combined; the resulting lower recurring material costs per casting improves margins in a sector already squeezed by lobal competition and energy prices, without resorting to offshoring or cheaper labor.

Energy, Efficiency, Uptime

EnviroAir thermal sand reclaimers are engineered for high throughput with low energy requirements. Systems that optimize burnout and classification reduce rework and casting defects, indirectly saving melting and finishing energy that would otherwise be wasted on scrap. EnviroAir systems can also streamline handling through less hauling to disposal and fewer sand deliveries, simplifying logistics and freeing labor for high-value tasks.

Decarbonization & Environmental Pressure

By reusing sand instead of continually purchasing new material and sending spent sand to landfills, reclamation significantly reduces emissions from mining, processing, and transporting virgin sand while also minimizing landfill impacts. Advanced technologies—such as thermal systems—can reduce CO₂ emissions related to sand use and transport by 10–80%.These improvements help U.S. Foundries meet “Buy clean” and customer requirements by demonstrating lower embodied emissions in their cast metal products.

Regulatory and Landfill Constraints

Reclamation dramatically decreases the amount of spent sand requiring disposal – often by 70-90% – which helps relieve pressure in areas facing limited landfill capacity, rising disposal costs, or stricter permitting. By producing less waste and cleaner sand streams, reclamation also supports compliance with air and water regulations concerning dust, leachate, and binder residues – factors receiving increasing attention from regulators overseeing primary metals and casting operations.

See how thermal sand reclamation could reduce your costs, waste, and emissions over time – connect with EnviroAir to review your current process and identify options that make sense for your business.

Foundry Sand and Waste Foundry Sand (WFS) Management Solutions

Foundry sand is high-quality uniform silica sand used to make molds and cores for ferrous and nonferrous metal castings. Like many industries, the foundry and metal casting industry face several challenges due to increasing global competition, stringent environmental regulations, emissions, and waste, resulting in sustainability performance issues.

Approximately 100 million tons of Waste Foundry Sand (WFS) is annually generated worldwide by the foundry industry, with approximately 6 to 10 million tons of spent foundry sand generated annually in the United States. Unfortunately, less than 15% of this spent sand in the U.S. is recycled.

Infographic of a US Map depicting states with the largest number of foundries 1 Ohio 2 California 3 Michigan 4 Pennsylvania 5 Wisconsin 6 Illinois 7 Texas 8 Indiana 9 Minnesota 10 Missouri 11 New York 12 Washington 13 Alabama 14 Iowa 15 Oregon

There are many issues surrounding this industry. A key issue impacting foundries is the growing capacity and management of stockpiled waste foundry sand (WFS) as it requires costly space for accumulation. Additionally, there remains a substantial environmental risk associated with stockpiled waste foundry sand due to an increased rate of toxic metal leaching from the WFS. EnviroAir offers solutions to repurpose waste foundry sand through its sand reclamation systems and reduce the need to expand storage capacity and improve production time.

Strict regulations designed to support the industries’ commitment to improve recycling to support the zero-waste goal identify landfills as not the best alternative for dumping. Without efficient technology, foundries are subject to costly disposal penalties that can greatly reduce their profit margins. EnviroAir’s Thermal Sand Reclamation process meets this challenge.

With energy costs impacting approximately 15% of foundry production, companies need to utilize the most energy-efficient technologies in order to receive substantial reductions in cost and harmful greenhouse gas emissions. EnviroAir’s vision is for the future. We continually strive to set the standard for innovative engineering and excel at environmental performance for a wide range of industries. Each and every day, we work hard to improve the impact we have on the manufacturing industry, the environment, and all our clients.

Throughout its 23-year history, EnviroAir has become a leader in developing innovative solutions that process waste sand in the most efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable way. EnviroAir’s Thermal Sand Reclamation Systems have been proven to reduce the purchase amount of virgin sand, limit excessive waste sand going to landfills, and substantially decrease associated transportation costs. Additional benefits include:

Low operating cost – less than $7.00 per ton
Stronger molds and cores
Improved casting quality
Fully automatic system – minimal manpower to operate
Robust, simple design – low maintenance
No cooling tower to maintain

Understanding the best technology for each client’s unique production needs has been the foundation of EnviroAir’s success and ultimately, the production success of our clients. We offer six thermal sand reclamation models ranging from ¼ to 6 tons per hour. All projects receive expert guidance and the support of experienced engineers to help clients select the most appropriate technological approach for their projects.

Transcript EnviroAir Streamline Operations Drive Innovation Improve Environmental Success Achieve Environmental Sustainability

Now, spent foundry sand can be reclaimed and reused safely, saving energy, and reducing the need for mining virgin materials. An EnviroAir Engineer is here to discuss your options as well as the benefits behind them for your company. Contact EnviroAir Today at 262-594-5891 for more information.