Ground glass pozzolan positively premiers

Urban Mining Industries is launching the first full-scale commercial processing plant for Pozzotive, a concrete-grade pozzolan derived from post-consumer waste glass. The newly opened charter facility in Beacon Falls, Conn., is equipped for 50,000-plus tons of annual output.

Silos from Standley Batch Systems of Cape Girardeau, Mo., hold 900 tons of finished Pozzotive ground glass pozzolan. The four smaller towers feed product to the redundant larger towers, either of which can load directly into tank trailers. To meet expected surge demand, additional tank trailers can be loaded and staged at point of origin, point of demand or any other location requested by customers.

Urban Mining’s patented technology produces Pozzotive from a broad range of waste glass sources. A pair of ball mill assemblies and related Beacon Falls plant equipment refine cleaned glass to a reliably consistent particle size.

Circularity in New York City at the United Nations: The UN Plaza approach features high-performance permeable pavers. They were produced from mixes bearing Pozzotive, which in turn was processed from recycled UN building window glass.

“Bringing this innovation to Connecticut creates a perfect circular economy: we harvest and process 100 percent of our recycled glass, and use it in local, sustainable building projects, while also reducing transportation emissions and costly landfill space,” says Pozzotive inventor and principal Louis Grasso. In the ramp up to commercialization, he adds, Pozzotive ground glass pozzolan has been successfully used in mix designs for over 10 million concrete masonry units, 750,000 square feet of concrete pavers, and 500,000 square feet of prestressed plank.

By replacing up to 50 percent of carbon dioxide-intensive cement, Pozzotive reduces embodied carbon on a ton-for-ton basis and yields a high-performing product that increases the resistance of concrete slabs and structures to chloride penetration, sulfate attack, efflorescence and freeze thaw cycles. This means longer lasting concrete that reduces replacement cost while lowering a project’s upfront carbon footprint.

Differentiating Pozzotive from other ground glass pozzolans, Urban Mining notes, are its optimal and reliable particle size and a clean, consistent chemical composition. Particle size plays a huge role in the pozzolanic reaction that imparts strength and durability to high performance concrete. “Our years of testing and use have refined the manufacturing process for Pozzotive to tightly control the range of particle sizes to maximize the efficiency of its pozzolanic reaction,” Grasso observes.

With this sustainable innovation, Urban Mining is also leading the charge in reducing the amount of recycled glass that goes to expensive and overburdened landfills with its patented process for sorting, cleaning and milling waste glass regardless of color, size, presence of ceramics or cleanliness. Better performing, longer lasting concrete, lowering CO2 emissions and transforming the recycling industry add up to what company officials call a “win-win-win.” — Urban Mining Industries, New Rochelle, N.Y., www.pozzotive.com