Grantee Research Project Results
Prototyping a Process to Reuse Wasted Glass in High Performance Low Carbon Concrete
EPA Contract Number: 68HERC23C0006Title: Prototyping a Process to Reuse Wasted Glass in High Performance Low Carbon Concrete
Investigators: Kumpon, Jacob
Small Business: KLAW Industries LLC
EPA Contact: McIntyre, Brandon
Phase: II
Project Period: October 21, 2022 through October 20, 2024 (Extended to October 20, 2025)
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II (2023) Recipients Lists
Research Category: SBIR - Air , SBIR - Homeland Security , SBIR - Sustainability , Urban Air Toxics , Heavy Metal Contamination of Soil/Water , SBIR - Air Quality
Description:
How Glass SCMs Solve the Market Need.
The process of producing cement has remained unchanged since the industrial revolution. Concrete producers need a new high performing cement alternative to lower their concrete products' cost and embodied carbon. Otherwise, we will be building our future communities using a process with the environmental and financial costs of 1820s technology.
This project will create a market-ready supplementary cementitious material (SCM) derived from the 7.55 million tons of waste glass we send to landfills across the US each year. This new material will replace cement and solve concrete producers' needs by being 25% lower cost, 97% less carbon-intensive, and 33% stronger than traditional cement, as proven in our Phase I project.
Technical Feasibility & Commercial Applications.
In Phase I, KLAW Industries demonstrated that a scalable process to utilize waste glass could produce a recycled glass SCM that is lower cost and lower embodied carbon than current market options. The new material passed the concrete industry's standard, ASTM 1866, meaning concrete producers can use glass SCMs in any commercial project, such as building foundations and sidewalks. A critical component of our Phase I research was to complete a pilot project using a glass SCM, putting high- performance, low-carbon concrete into the field.
Our target end-users for recycled glass SCMs are mix directors at ready-mix concrete plants. These are the concrete companies that drive concrete trucks. Ready-mix concrete is the target market since they are most sensitive to price and increased performance. So far, one ready-mix concrete producer has already integrated our recycled glass SCM, Pantheon™, into their manufacturing process, a significant validation for glass SCMs.
Market Size & Performance Benefits & Environmental Benefits.
A low-cost recycled glass SCM allows ready-mix concrete producers to provide their customers with an all-around better product at a lower cost without needing to change their process. The total addressable market for recycled glass SCMs is $1.3B in the US. As fossil fuel prices increase and cement prices rise, this market will grow in the next ten years.
Recycled glass SCMs will keep 7.55 million tons of glass from entering American landfills annually by utilizing waste glass. By replacing cement in concrete, glass SCMs will mitigate 0.97 tons of CO2 for every 1 ton of glass SCM utilized. At scale, glass SCMs will prevent 7.1 million tons of embodied carbon in United States' infrastructure annually.
SBIR Phase I:
Prototyping a Process to Reuse Wasted Glass in High Performance Low Carbon Concrete | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.