Resources & Associations for Metal Finishing
The following resources may provide you with additional information about metal finishing.
- P2Rx Topic Hub: Metal Finishing. The Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange is a national network of regional information centers. It provides a guide to basic metal finishing information with links to additional on-line resources.
- Cleveland Advanced Machining Program Report: Profile of the Metal Finishing Industry [PDF 496KB]. This report covers the metal finishing industry characteristics, primary manufacturing processes, environmental concerns and technologies, and regulations affected the industry.
- North Carolina Department of Environment & Natural Resources: Pollution Prevention for the Metals Finishing Industry. The Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) designed this manual to provide environmental assistance staff with a basic reference on metal finishing.
- North Carolina Department of Environment & Natural Resources: P2 infoHouse library. P2 infoHouse is a comprehensive online pollution prevention reference collection. The full reference collection of more than 40,000 pollution prevention documents is the nation’s largest online collection of P2 publications. It is easily searchable by keyword. Most of the publications can be downloaded or printed.
- NC Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance: Water Efficiency – Industry Specific Processes [PDF 268KB]. This fact sheet provides water efficiency opportunities to metal finishers.
- National Metal Finishing Resource Center: NMFRC Resources. Resources include current metal prices, platers’ calculators, pollution prevention and control technologies for plating operations, and more.
- EPA:
- Metal Finishing Research. The US EPA has conducted various research projects to support the metal finishing industry. Many of the projects were an outgrowth of EPA’s Common Sense Initiative (CSI).
- Strategic Goals Program. SGP is a voluntary program intended for metal finishing companies that strive to continuously improve their environmental performance. SGP is the result of a unique cooperative effort between representatives of EPA, the metal finishing industry, state and local governments, environmental organizations, and others.
Waste Management Resources
- Alkaline Noncyanide Zinc Plating and Reuse of Recovered Chemicals [PDF 5.4MB]
- Recycling Nickel Electroplating Rinse Waters by Low Temperature Evaporation and Reverse Osmosis [PDF 5.7MB]
- Conductivity Control System Technology [PDF 384KB]
- Illinois Sustainable Technology Center ADOP2T Videos
- TURI – Toxic Use Reduction Institute
- CleanerSolutions Database
- MnTAP Fact Sheet: Non-Contact Cooling Water (2007). There may be opportunities to reduce water use in your facility by reusing water for non-contact cooling.
Financial Assistance & Analysis
- MPCA Financial Assistance Opportunities – Loans and Grants
- EPA: Applying Environmental Accounting to Electroplating Operations: An In-Depth Analysis [PDF 152KB]
Associations
At some point you may need more information, need to ask questions or find out what others think about a situation. Take advantage of your opportunities to get connected. Talking to peers and suppliers to your industry through membership in a trade association can help you solve problems.
- National Association for Surface Finishing. NASF is a trade association whose mission is to promote the advancement of the North American surface finishing industry globally. NASF Upper Midwest Branch holds monthly meetings in Minneapolis.
- Minnesota Association of Metal Finishers (MNAMF). MNAMF represents the metal and surface finishing industry, to insure the industry’s future viability, and, to promote its vitally important and positive contributions to our economy and our society.
- National Metal Finishers Resource Center. The NMFRC is the most comprehensive environmental, technical, and pollution prevention metal finishing resource available worldwide.
- Printed Wiring Board Resource Center. Provides environmental resources for the PWB manufacturing industry.
- Finishing.com. Members of the finishing industry can go here for answers about anodizing, plating, finishing, powder coating and surface finishing problems.
- Society of Manufacturing Engineers. SME is an international professional society dedicated to serving its members and the manufacturing community through the advancement of professionalism, knowledge, and learning.