Although the production of steel castings inherently consumes valuable resources such as electricity and natural gas, MMI’s Leadership Team continually searches for new ways to minimize our consumption. MMI closely monitors the use of chemicals and other inputs to our manufacturing processes.  MMI also recycles post production materials such as reclaimed sand and metals in order to minimize contributions to landfills.

Recycled steel
MMI utilizes various alloys in production of custom steel castings. Although the casting process does require the use of virgin material, we primarily use recycled steel by cutting up and re-using steel over many casting cycles. This process eliminates costly energy consumption of virgin steel by making more efficient use of recycled steel. In addition, MMI supplies steel scrap to a local partner for use in their re-melt process. Each year this process diverts 300,000 pounds of steel from a landfill to production of other metal products.

Recycled sand
MMI purchases millions of pounds of sand each year to produce molds for our casting process, the majority of which is reclaimed internally and re-used in the manufacturing process.  This reclaim and re-use cycle occurs several times until the sand reaches a point of degradation where it is no longer usable for sand mold production.  Instead of sending degraded sand (fines) to a local landfill, MMI partners with a local company which uses the sand as base material in asphalt road construction.  On an annual basis, this environmentally-friendly process redirects 3.6 million pounds of waste sand out of local landfills and puts it to good use.

Lighting upgrade
In December 2008, MMI installed high efficiency lighting systems of T8 & T5 lamps to replace existing Metal Halide and T12 lamps. The new lighting systems are TCLP compliant and will eliminate disposal costs.

All told, the lighting upgrade will result in annual energy savings in excess of 223,000 kWh (kilowatt hours) – enough energy to power 22 households each year. The resulting reduction in pollutants, such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), will have the same environmental impact as removing 44 cars from U.S. roadways or planting 770 new trees each year.

We will post updates to our web site periodically to inform you of our progress.