Waupaca Foundry Receives Environmental Stewardship Award

Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Co. has once again bestowed honors on Waupaca Foundry, a Hitachi Metals company. The foundry recently received Kawasaki’s Environmental Stewardship Award, the company’s fourth award from the engine maker since 2011.

In awarding the honor to Waupaca Foundry, the largest producer of ductile iron and gray iron castings in the world, Kawasaki recognized both the Waupaca, Wis., based gray iron foundry and the Marinette, Wis.-based ductile iron foundry with the award. Waupaca Foundry previously won Kawasaki’s Environmental Stewardship Award in 2013.

In addition to the two environmental awards, Waupaca Foundry received Kawasaki’s 2011 Cost Savings Award and its 2012 Supplier of the Year Award.

Waupaca Foundry - like other metalcasters - are energy-intensive manufacturers and for more than a decade the iron casting supplier has sought smarter ways to use and conserve the planet’s resources. The company has a 10-year sustainability plan in place that seeks to meet the following goals by 2020:

• Reduce energy intensity usage by 25 percent
• Promote alternative processes and maintain state-of-the-art air pollution control technologies
• Reduce spent foundry sand generation by 30 percent while promoting offsite reuse/recycling opportunities of remaining spent foundry materials to achieve zero landfill disposal
• Reduce water use consumption by 80 percent

“We are honored to win this stewardship award for the second time and it shows our deep commitment to energy, air, water and sand conservation,” said Bryant Esch, Waupaca Foundry environmental manager. “We continue taking steps to leave an even smaller impact on our environment as we make progress on our 10-year sustainability plan.”

Waupaca Foundry has an Environmental Management System and all foundry locations are registered to ISO 140001. It is also the first United States metalcaster to receive the accredited ISO 50001 Energy Management System certification. The certification was a result of energy conservation initiatives at Waupaca Foundry's plant located at 406 N. Division St., Waupaca, one of three gray iron foundries the company operates in Waupaca, Wis.

Waupaca Foundry makes a variety of products for Kawasaki. Since the late 1980s, the Maryville plant has been the primary general purpose engine production facility for Kawasaki. The company’s engines can be found in lawn and garden equipment produced by a variety of manufacturers across the industry. Waupaca Foundry’s gray iron foundry in Waupaca, Wisconsin supplies Kawasaki with gray iron flywheels while its ductile iron foundry in Marinette, Wisconsin provides the company with crankshafts.