Arbejdsrapport fra Miljøstyrelsen, 12/2006 – Forprojekt til brancheindsats for jern- og metalstøberier

Forprojekt til brancheindsats for jern- og metalstøberier

Summary and conclusions

The report describes an action plan for the iron- and non-ferrous foundry industry. The report was worked out on behalf of the Association of Danish Foundries by the Institute for Product Development and the Danish Technological Institute.

The action plan is based on the results of seven life cycle screenings of typical products, and on the discussion at two workshops. Prioritising of the projects and further development of the proposals was made by means of the Logical Framework Approach (LFA).

From the life cycle screenings it appears that the following parameters were the most important:

Energy consumption at the casting facility
Emissions from e.g. binders
Waste sand
Emissions of heavy metals

Prioritising of proposals for projects was discussed at two workshops.

Proposals for the following projects are described:

Organic binders and additives: Overview of applications concerning technical, economic and environmental considerations
Reduction of emissions from die casting
Improvement of LCA-data concerning metal casting processes
Heavy metals – reduction of emissions and contents

The total budget for the projects is DKK 6.8 mill., of which DKK 5.3 mill. is to be financed by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

It is proposed that steering of the projects will be undertaken by a steering committee. Representatives from the branch organisation and the project groups should be part of the committee, which will take care of the necessary coordination between the projects. Part of the coordination lies within the projects, which deliver data to the EDIP database.

Communication of results will be coordinated by the steering committee. The home page of the branch organisations can be used for communication, and meetings can be arranged within the branch organisations or for wider groups, if relevant.

The perspectives by launching the projects are mainly reduction of emissions. A reduction of undesired substances in the waste sand is also to be expected.

For the LCA element of the project, the goal will have a longer perspective, but the data will serve as a tool for the environmental work in the enterprises, with reduction of energy consumption as the most likely outcome.

Altogether the projects will present a catalogue of solutions to the environmental improvements which will gradually be implemented in enterprises in the branch.