•Established an effectiveness evaluation methods considering multiple aspects.•Research on traditional method, ink-jet bonding 3D printing and sand mold milling.•Detailed analysis and comparison of new technologies considering multiple aspects.•Better resource utilization rate of new technologies in the foundry industry.•Suitable for single or small batch production with better economic benefits. The emergence of new technologies has accelerated the process of sustainable development, gradually moving traditional manufacturing away from labor-intensive low-end towards high value-added and high-quality production. In order to study the application effectiveness of new technologies, the production of single or small batch castings in the traditional foundry industry is taken as the analysis object by using traditional manufacturing method, additive manufacturing (ink-jet bonding 3D printing) and subtractive manufacturing (sand mold milling), from the aspects of resources consumption, environmental impact and production efficiency. Among them, the resources consumption takes material, energy, and human resources into comprehensive consideration, while the environmental impact takes carbon emission as the main evaluation index, and the production efficiency is determined according to the actual casting output of the enterprise, this evaluation method is applicable to most of the traditional manufacturing industries. The results indicate that in the production of this kind of castings, additive and subtractive manufacturing have better resource utilization and significantly reduced the carbon emission of sand casting process by about 20.78% and 4.82%, respectively. Besides, the production efficiency of additive and subtractive manufacturing are 92.66% and 91.39% respectively, which has superiority not only in production capacity but also in economic benefits. According to the research conclusion, reference of what or whether new technologies can be used in traditional manufacturing to realize sustainability is provided, which has certain practical significance.