While you may not know it, the metalcasting industry has been leading the green movement in manufacturing.

Sure, Al Gore stole our thunder with his 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth and has become the most visual proponent for legislation to curb the growth and effect of green house gases, specifically carbon dioxide emissions. But where was the former vice president in 3,000 B.C. when metalcasters first began melting down scrap copper-base alloys to make weapons and sculptures?

The metalcasting process brings new life to discarded (scrap) metal from cars, appliances and other manufacturing processes by remelting it to make a new engineered cast metal component. Estimates report that U.S. metalcasters remelt more than 5 million tons of scrap metal each year. Today, metalcasting also finds new life for one of its largest waste streams—used metalcasting sand. Beyond recycling it through the metalcasting process countless times until its strength has been exhausted, metalcasters are currently finding reuse applications for 2.6 million tons (almost 33%) of their spent metalcasting sand in asphalt, concrete, construction, flowable fill and horticultural applications.

Are these the actions of an antiquated industry?