SBIR-STTR Award

Prototyping a Process to Reuse Wasted Glass in High Performance Low Carbon Concrete
Award last edited on: 2/11/2023

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
EPA
Total Award Amount
$499,966
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
4D
Principal Investigator
Jacob Kumpon

Company Information

KLAW Industries LLC

120 Hawley Street
Binghamton, NY 13901
   (607) 222-2291
   N/A
   www.klawindustries.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 19
County: Broome

Phase I

Contract Number: 68HERC22C0027
Start Date: 12/13/2021    Completed: 6/12/2022
Phase I year
2022
Phase I Amount
$99,966
How Glass SCMs Solve the Market Need The process to produce 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 embodied carbon and financial costs of 1820s technology. This project aims to develop a proof of concept production process for a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) derived from waste glass currently sent to landfills across the United States. This new material will be 25% lower cost, 97% less carbon-intensive, and 11% stronger than Portland cement. Technical Feasibility & Comparative Performance In conjunction with Clarkson University, KLAW Industries' researchers have shown that using recycled glass as an SCM in concrete is possible, making the resulting material stronger and chemically resistant. This project aims to develop a prototype to demonstrate that this technology can be produced in an industrial setting. The SCM developed from recycled glass in a lab setting has shown promising results. Without changing their process, concrete producers achieve 11% stronger concrete and favorable surface finishing properties. Due to the comparatively low energy requirements of producing recycled glass SCMs, the material will have a significant carbon and price advantage compared to Portland cement. Commercial Applications & End Users Through the NSF National I-Corps Program, over 268 customer interviews have been completed. Readymix concrete producers have been identified as the optimum beachhead market due to their high volume, low margin business model. A low-cost recycled glass SCM will allow ready-mix concrete producers to provide their customers with an all-around better product at a lower cost with no need to change their infrastructure or process. Small pilot projects completed with potential concrete partners have led to grassroots support for this technology. Market Size & Environmental Benefits The total addressable market for a recycled glass SCM is $1.3B in the U.S. As fossil fuel prices increase and cement prices rise, this market is expected to grow in the next ten years. A recycled glass SCM will keep 7.55 million tons of glass from entering American landfills every year by utilizing waste glass. By replacing cement in concrete, glass SCM’s will lower the embodied carbon of concrete by 20% in every pour and by 50% in specialty pours. This will prevent 7.1 million tons of embodied carbon from entering U.S. infrastructure annually.

Phase II

Contract Number: 68HERC23C0006
Start Date: 10/21/2022    Completed: 10/20/2024
Phase II year
2023
Phase II Amount
$400,000
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.