Utilization of Waste Foundry Sand in Construction Materials
Summary
Waste foundry sand (WFS) is an abundant by-product of metal casting that presents both an environmental challenge and an opportunity for resource conservation. Characterised by fine granularity, silica content and minor residual binders or impurities, WFS has been investigated as a partial or full substitute for natural sand in a variety of cementitious systems including ordinary concrete, self-compacting concrete, ultra-high performance concrete and even geopolymer matrices. Substitution levels up to around 30 % often yield comparable workability, mechanical strength and durability, while higher contents may require admixture optimisation or supplementary pozzolanic constituents. Beyond concrete, stabilised WFS blends have been assessed for pavement base and fill applications, demonstrating adequate bearing capacity and frost resistance. The global significance of this approach lies in reducing landfill disposal, conserving riverine sand resources and lowering the embodied carbon of construction materials, thus contributing to circular economy principles and sustainable infrastructure development.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Utilization of Waste Foundry Sand in Construction Materials publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in utilization of waste foundry sand in construction materials across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Waste foundry sand (WFS): Siliceous by-product from metal casting operations, rich in fine particles and residual binders.
Self-compacting concrete (SCC): High-flow concrete that spreads under its own weight to fill complex formwork without mechanical vibration.
Pozzolanic material: Siliceous or aluminosilicate substance that reacts with calcium hydroxide to form additional cementitious compounds.
Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC): Engineered cementitious composite with exceptionally high strength and durability, often containing fine powders and steel fibres.
Compressive strength: Measure of a material’s capacity to withstand axial loads, typically expressed in megapascals (MPa).
References
- Systematic review on the use of waste foundry sand as a partial replacement of natural sand in concrete. Construction and Building Materials (2024).
- Waste Foundry Sand in Concrete Production Instead of Natural River Sand: A Review. Materials (2022).
- Waste Foundry Sand Usage for Building Material Production: A First Geopolymer Record in Material Reuse. Advances in Civil Engineering (2018).
- Mechanical Properties of Ultra-High Performance Concrete with Partial Utilization of Waste Foundry Sand. Buildings (2020).
- Combined use of untreated-waste rice husk ash and foundry sand waste in high-performance self-consolidating concrete. Results in Materials (2019).
- Experimental study on the utilization of waste foundry sand as embankment and structural fill. IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering (2019).
- Investigations into stabilized waste foundry sand for applications in pavement structures. Resources Conservation and Recycling (2021).
- Reuse or Disposal of Waste Foundry Sand: An Insight into Environmental Aspects. Applied Sciences (2022).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.