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The Metal Products Industry

Improvement of Resource Efficiency and Environmental Performance

Metal products is a very diverse sector with many different kinds of production processes. The most simple metal products are cast in foundries. The documents for Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metals and for Foundries should be consulted for such products. Many cast metal products are heat-treated to improve their properties. The main concerns in this small subsector are with air emissions from furnaces and from oils used in pressing and cooling the parts. The next major step in production is machining and forming. The major environmental concerns in machining and forming include use and disposal of machine lubricants and coolants, aqueous and solvent cleaning systems, and recycling of scrap. Cleaning metal parts with chemical solvents is very common. Many solvents are hazardous and regulated. There are many resources for solvent substitution and management in general and for metal products production in particular. This document lists only a few of the best resources for solvents. Once products are completely formed, they may be finished through electroplating, painting, powder coating or other coating processes. Consult the Metal Finishing document for more information about this issue.

Trade associations have websites with technical guidance, suppliers, and discussion forums where questions can be asked and answered, all for free. There are also many case studies of successful pollution prevention in the metal products industry in developing countries.

The tables below list low-cost or no-cost solutions to reduce waste and pollution in the metal products industry. Direct links to online guides to metal products pollution prevention follow the table.

Top 10 Low-Cost Solutions to Increase Efficiency and Reduce Waste in Metal Plating Operations
Machining Wastes/Metalworking Fluid
  • Use high-quality metalworking fluid.
  • Use demineralized water makeup.
  • Perform regularly scheduled sump and machine cleaning.
  • Perform regularly scheduled gasket, wiper, and seal maintenance.
  • Filter, pasteurize, and treat metalworking fluid for reuse.
  • Assigning fluid control responsibility to one person.
  • Standardize oil types on machining equipment.
  • Improve equipment scheduling/establish dedicated lines.
  • Reuse or recycle cutting, cooling, and lubricating oils.
  • Substitute insoluble borates for soluble borate lubricants.
  • Segregate and reuse scrap metal.
Parts Cleaning/Solvents
  • Install lids/silhouettes on tanks.
  • Increase freeboard space on tanks.
  • Install freeboard chillers on tanks.
  • Remove sludge from solvent tanks frequently.
  • Extend solvent life by precleaning parts by wiping, using air blowers, or predipping in cold mineral spirits dip.
  • Reclaim/recover solvent on- or off-site.
  • Substitute less hazardous solvent degreasers (e.g., petroleum solvents instead of chlorinated solvents )or alkali washes where possible.
  • Distribute parts on rack to allow good cleaning and minimize solvent holdup.
  • Slow speed of parts removal from vapor zone.
  • Rotate parts to allow condensed solvent drop-off.
  • Remove sludge frequently.
  • Use dry cleaning and stripping methods.
  • Use oil separation and filtration to recycle solution.
Parts Cleaning/Abrasives
  • Use of greaseless or water-based binders.
  • Use an automatic liquid spray system for application of abrasive onto wheel.
  • Ensure sufficient water use during cleaning by using water level control.
  • Use synthetic abrasives.

 

Source: Checklist for the Fabricated Metal Industry. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dhwm/chkfmi.htm

Technical Guides to Pollution Prevention

Checklist for the Fabricated Metal Industry has a summary of useful solutions.

http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dhwm/chkfmi.htm

Pollution Prevention Source Reduction in Metal Manufacturing is another summary of solutions.

http://www.deq.state.va.us/p2/factshts/metal.html

A Pollution Prevention Guide for Metal Fabricators is a fact sheet with numerous good ideas.

http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/delmtlfb.htm

Extending the Life of Metal Working Fluids is a fact sheet with suggestions.

http://www.epa.state.oh.us/opp/metalw/fact11.html

Metal Machining Sector--A Pollution Prevention Assessment and Guidance reports on findings from 12 case studies.

http://www.wa.gov/ecology/pubs/99412.pdf

The Profile of the Fabricated Metal Products Industry from the US EPA has extensive process technology information, pollution prevention solutions and additional resources.

http://es.epa.gov/oeca/sector/index.html#fab

Metal Fabrication Industry Compliance and Pollution Prevention Workbook is the most comprehensive guide on metal fabrication.

http://www.pprc.org/pprc/sbap/workbook/tocmetal.html

Metal Machining Sector: Northwest Pollution Prevention and Regulatory Perspectives has extensive specific details about machining.

http://www.pprc.org/pprc/sbap/machine/mach_toc.html

Management of the Metal Removal Fluid Environment is a management guide that aims to be a comprehensive and useful resource for those who work with metal removal fluids.

http://www.aware-services.com/entry

An Analysis of Pollution Prevention Opportunities and Impediments in the Fabricated Metal Products Manufacturing Sector in Georgia is an extensive technical report.

http://www.ganet.org/dnr/p2ad/pblcations/metal.html

Case Studies

International Cleaner Production Information Centre has over 100 case studies referring to "metal" on line.

http://www.emcentre.com/unepweb/tec_case/search.htm

Envirosense finds 52 case studies about "metal products".

http://es.epa.gov/cgi-bin/search.pl?studies=on

 

Major Sites Devoted to Metal Products and the Environment

The Waste Reduction Resource Center has four excellent collections of information and resources, each with a good description, on these topics: Metal Paint Stripping (Depainting), Metal Cleaning (Solvents), Metal Machining (Coolants), Metal Coating (Painting).

http://wrrc.p2pays.org/nframe.asp?page=indsectinfo.asp

The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Research Center maintains these sector information collections:

Metal Fabrication

http://www.pprc.org/pprc/sbap/metal.html

Metal Finishing

http://www.pprc.org/pprc/sbap/metalfin.html

Metal Machining

http://www.pprc.org/pprc/sbap/machine.html

Metal Working Fluid Product Stewardship Group provides a network for sharing information on environmentally improved fluids management.

http://www.mwfpsg.org

The Small Business Enviroweb has a collection of reports and many case studies.

http://www.smallbiz-enviroweb.org/pubsector.asp

Metal Products Trade Associations

Precision Machined Products Association

http://www.pmpa.org/

Precision Metalforming Association

http://www.metalforming.com/default.htm

The Tooling & Manufacturing Association

http://www.tmanet.org/

Association for Manufacturing Technology

http://www.mfgtech.org/

Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association

http://www.ilma.org/index.htm

National Tooling and Machining Association

http://www.ntma.org

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