Siempelkamp set to increase amount of recycled foundry sand

The foundry Siempelkamp Giesserei GmbH from Krefeld, Germany has entered into a cooperation with the Finnish technological company Finn Recycling. The goal is the joint operation and maintenance of a plant for recycling foundry sand at the Krefeld location.

The foundry wants to reuse the sand more often in the future, and for a longer period. Siempelkamp chose the Finnish company’s technological solution over its competitors because it is notably more efficient in its use of energy during operation than other, comparable systems.

In Krefeld, just under 1,000 tons of foundry sand are needed every day to manufacture structural components. Currently, 95% of the sand is already being recycled as part of a circular economy. The goal now is a further significant reduction of the remainder. This would not only lower the costs of disposal, but also lighten the load for landfills. Dr Georg Geier, Managing Director of Siempelkamp Giesserei: “This is the reason why we as a leading industrial company want to proceed even faster when it comes to protecting the environment, to sustainability and efficiency, and want to increase our recycling quota even further in order to avoid negative effects on the environment, use resources sparingly and lower costs.”

In cooperation with Finn Recycling, there are currently concepts under development to optimise Siempelkamp’s proprietary treatment process based on the technological solution by the Finnish company. The subsequent goal is to operate an energy-efficient recycling plant on the factory premises.

Finn Recycling operates their own test and research plant for the regeneration of foundry sand in Germany, in cooperation with the University of Freiberg. The patented system consists, among other things, of feeder, heating, cooling and dedusting units. This way, the foundry sand is cleaned of all organic elements and most residues, and can then immediately be reused in processing.

“We want to change the patterns of thinking in the foundry industry and make the treatment of sand for reuse an integral part of business practice. Our sand-as-a-service model and low thresholds for investment make our solution quick to implement for foundries even in the current economic situation, while also achieving large positive effects for the economic and environmental balance”, says Kalle Härkki, CEO of Finn Recycling.