Metal Finishing

The metal finishing sector includes facilities involved in plating, anodizing, conversion coating, and related processes. This sector is made up of 3,000 independent job shops and 7,000 captive shops (plating shop integrated into a larger manufacturing operation, e.g., auto manufacturing). The most common environmental concerns of this sector are wastewater discharges, wastewater treatment sludges (RCRA F006), organic air pollutants (mainly cleaning solvents), inorganic air pollutants (e.g., hexavalent chromium), and electrical power consumption.

Environmental benchmarking of the metal finishing industry was initiated under a previous project termed the Metal Finishing Strategic Goals Program (SGP). That effort and some additional work performed under the current benchmarking program has gathered environmental performance and cost data from more than four hundred metal finishing companies, and created a detailed framework for benchmarking and tracking improvements that can be matched by few other industry sectors.

The SGP, which got underway in 1998, was originally designed as a five year program and was scheduled to end in 2003. However, because of the many benefits derived from their participation, businesses have continued to submit their annual data, which is entered into a database maintained by NCMS. Each year participants receive several reports that show their environmental progress and a performance comparison to environmental benchmarks. Most of these reports as well as aggregate data displays can be accessed from the SGP website.

The initial benchmarking effort performed in association with the SGP was completed in 2000 and a comprehensive report was prepared that describes the methods and procedures used to arrive at environmental benchmarks for the metal finishing sector. During the course of the current benchmarking program, the report has been used as a roadmap for other sectors. Copies of the report are available for purchase from NCMS.

In addition to the benchmarking work, NCMS is moving beyond taking the existing situation as given, and is considering instead the possibilities for environmental improvement that would be associated with fundamental changes in the way metal finishing is carried out. To address this component of the program, NCMS has facilitated a dialog among stakeholders with information to contribute to the picture, and has integrated the results of the dialog into a strategic plan for the future of metal finishing in an environmental context.

More information:
Access metal finishing benchmarking results from the Strategic Goals Program website.
Download the Metal Finishing Survey Form.
Order Benchmarking Metal Finishing.