Building the Green Foundry - Sustainability Initiatives at Waupaca Foundry, Inc.
Waupaca Foundry, Inc. has developed primary business goals to build the Green Foundry Business.
The company’s sustainable strategy includes over 85% of recycled materials used in the melt process, energy intensity reduction, state-of-the-art air emissions control, reducing spent foundry sand generation, and water use reduction. WFI 2030 goals include reducing 25% CO2 emissions. Reusing spent foundry sand represent an opportunity for beneficial purposes. Our processes require large volumes of sand, which are continually used, reconditioned, and reused in the foundry. Spent sand represents a clean, non-toxic product that can be beneficially reused in a variety of applications and industries. Water had been consumed in several ways as a cooling mean and environmental control. WFI has invested in state-of the art systems and as today, individual plant cooling water demands have been cut by 80% or more, and non-contact cooling water discharges reduced to near zero.
Speaker Bio
Marco Gonzalez is the Corporate Energy Manager at Waupaca Foundry, Inc. responsible for leading the energy management and decarbonization efforts to achieve Waupaca’s corporate sustainability goals. Marco holds 20+ years of energy management experience in utilities and manufacturing companies. In addition, Marco is a co-chair of the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group and a co-chair of the Wisconsin Cast Metals Association Energy committee.
Marco is a Certified Energy Manager by AEE and holds an MS in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Zulia, Venezuela. He is also a DOE Tennessee Tech IAC alumnus.