THE IRON-CLAD TRUTH:
Benefits of Cast Iron DWV Systems
Circularity: True legends never die.
U.S.-made cast iron soil pipe and fittings are made from 96+% post-consumer scrap and are 100% recyclable at the end of life. In other words, they’ll be around longer than any of us will be.
CISPI members are all focused on the circularity of their products and processes. So much so that, collectively, our members:
- Recycle hundreds of millions of pounds of scrap iron and steel every year, converting it into cast iron soil pipe and fittings;
- Recycle the foundry sand used in the production processes multiple times;
- Provide the inert sand that can no longer be used in the casting process for reuse in other applications, such as highway construction and structural fill;
- Employ the most energy efficient processes when compared with off-shore foundries in developing nations. (Chinese foundries, for example, use little scrap and rely on sites around the world to mine and process raw iron. This process—compared to utilizing scrap iron—increases greenhouse gas emissions by 100-200% per ton of castings produced, according to the American Foundry Society. It’s also important to note the great deal of GHG generated by shipping cast iron pipes to the U.S. on cargo ships.)
Additionally, at the end of the life of a building, the cast iron piping systems can be recovered and recycled again, to make new cast iron pipe and fittings.
So while cast iron from our member foundries may be different colors, at the end of the day it’s all green.
Resources
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CISPI Brochure
All too often, the perceived cost advantages of plastic over cast iron are not what they seem. This brochure will help it all make sense, by comparing six areas that can add cost and complexity: fire resistive construction, crush and deflection underground, thermal expansion/
CISPI Cast Iron Soil Pipe & Fittings Handbook
This newly updated handbook features the latest technical specs, installation guides, manufacturing details, layouts and other useful information for putting cast iron soil pipe and fittings to work for you.
CISPI 301
Standard specification for hubless cast iron soil pipe and fittings for sanitary and storm drain, waste and vent piping applications.