France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey generate around 4.1 million tonnes of iron foundry sands and dust wastes every year. In spite of the various treatments on the market, a high proportion of this waste ends up in landfill. In Spain, for example, an average of around 67% of waste by volume is land filled (2013). More valorisation options for these materials are necessary in order to reduce the environmental impact of this type of waste.

The LIFE FOUNDRYTILE project aims to demonstrate the valorisation of iron foundry sands and dust wastes in the ceramic tile production process, thus contributing to the implementation of Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) and the goals of the Roadmap for a Resource-Efficient Europe. The new applications will have three main benefits: the preservation of natural resources, the increase in foundry waste valorisation and environmental footprint reduction.

The project will first obtain and characterise the samples according to various factors (i.e. mineralogical and chemical composition, moisture, etc.). It will then develop different treatment solutions (a total of 16 solutions combining six different by-products) according to the sample characteristics and the production requirements of four different ceramic tiles. The project will produce 60 tonnes of different ceramic tiles and test them according to different quality parameters (i.e. mechanical resistance, water absorption, etc.). The best performing prototypes (mixtures) will be used to produce a sample of 800 m2 of wall tiles and porcelain tiles. The project results will be used to revise Best Available Techniques Reference Documents (BREFs) for both foundry and ceramic sectors (BREF codes SF and CER).

Expected results:

• Definition of an industrial process for the production of ceramic products from foundry dusts and sands, which reduces the consumption of raw material by 4.1% (translating to 366 000 tonnes in Spain);
• Creation of four small-scale prototypes of different ceramic applications and production of two batches of around 800 m2 of wall tiles and porcelain tiles;
• Development of a database of foundry by-products information and acceptance criteria;
• Gathering of foundry waste characterisation data and definition of raw material (RM) requirements for different ceramic products; and
• The production of Environmental Economic and Human Health Risk viability assessments of the proposed solutions.