Millions of tons of non-hazardous industrial material waste is produced annually by thousands of manufacturing and industrial entities and electrical energy manufacturing processes. Such waste normally finds its way to landfills. But now such waste can be salvaged and put to beneficial use in a number of applications. This process is known as Industrial Materials Recycling.

Non–hazardous industrial materials like foundry sand, coal ash, construction and demolition materials, gypsum and slag often do not lose their physical and chemical properties in the waste process. These materials can be used directly to augment the virgin materials. A prime example is the use of coal fly ash that increases the strength and durability of concrete.

The objectives of industrial materials recycling are:

• Conservation of energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the requirement of energy-intensive manufacturing process of virgin products.
• Preserves scarce natural resources.
• Eliminate disposal costs and reducing the manufacturing cost of a product.

Some typical recycling examples are:

• Slag, coal fly ash and spent foundry sand used as inputs in concrete, flowable fill and embankments.
• Asphalt and concrete crushed for reuse as an aggregate in structural fills and pavements.
• Coal fly ash used as an additive in ceiling tiles and cement manufacture.
• Gypsum de–sulfurized from flue gas, pulp and paper byproducts and foundry sand used in soil and agricultural amendments.