Aero Aggregates of North America, a Pennsylvania-based developer of an ultra-lightweight foamed glass aggregate, has scheduled a July 2022 opening of a Modesto, Calif. satellite plant. With a payroll of 15-20, the facility will turn post-consumer recycled glass into material used in public works or green commercial construction projects across the Western United States.
Aero Aggregates will partner with Halo Glass Recycling, a new processor, to recycle the equivalent of nearly 150 million bottles per year. Aero Aggregates’ products have been specified to raise the grade on soft compressible soils, add stormwater storage, promote infiltration and reduce carbon footprints. They have also been used in concrete block, along with the construction of roads, commercial developments, sewers, green roofs, gardens and building foundations.
Foamed glass aggregate suits projects that require fill to be placed over soft compressible soils or areas with underground utilities. The low-density product is approximately 85 percent lighter than conventional aggregates; durable and highly frictional, it costs much less to manufacture, ship and use than other lightweight fill materials, Aero Aggregates contends.
“The Philadelphia International Airport recently used our lightweight materials for a green construction project and cut 6,000 truckloads that would have been needed to haul traditional fill,” says CEO and Co-Founder Archie Filshill. “From manufacturing to delivery to placement, we not only accelerate construction but also help our customers reduce their carbon footprint. The West Coast production facility will reduce our client’s costs as we’ll no longer have to ship materials from our East Coast plant.”
The Modesto plant will join Aero Aggregates’ Eddystone, Pa. headquarters operation, plus a recently announced foamed glass aggregate processing facility under construction in Dunnellon, Fla.