Determination of Mass Loss in Samples of Post-Regeneration Dust from Moulding Sands with and without PCL Subjected to Biodegradation Processes in a Water Environment

In recent years, the demand for products made of biodegradable or partially biodegradable materials has been increasing. This is mainly due to the ever-increasing amount of waste in landfills, but also to the problem of post-production waste management. This problem also concerns waste from the casting process of sands made on the basis of furfuryl resin, as well as residues from the regeneration process of these sands. The article presents the issues related to the methodology of research on the biodegradation process both in the natural environment and methods conducted in laboratory conditions. The preliminary results of the research on the biodegradation process in the aquatic environment, to which the dusts from mechanical regeneration of moulding sand were subjected, indicate the directions of further research and work in the field of selection of components of moulding sand with biodegradable properties. These tests should be carried out primarily in terms of determining the minimum and maximum amount of the addition of a biodegradable component to the moulding sand.