Progressive Planet to build first pilot plant to produce low-carbon cement

Made from 100% post-consumer glass, PozGlass replaces carbon emitting ingredients now used in the making of most cement, such as Portland Cement. PozGlass can also replace fly ash in concrete. Fly ash is a by-product of burning coal, and releases CO₂ when heated.

PozGlass offers further environmental benefits by capturing and permanently sequestering CO₂ emitted by Progressive Planet’s natural gas dryer. For the first time in 30 years of operation, Progressive Planet will sequester CO₂ and convert it into sodium carbonate, a permanent carbon sequestration. Progressive Planet’s legacy cat litter operations purchase sodium carbonate to create clumping cat litter, creating a circular economy within its own operations.

“The cement industry emits 8% of the world’s carbon emissions, something industry leaders now want to reverse as they plan to become Net Zero by 2050,” said Progressive Planet CEO, Steve Harpur. “With PozGlass, a CleanTech breakthrough from our C-Quester™ Centre of Sustainable Innovation in Kamloops, we are producing one of many upcoming private-sector solutions that are needed to meet the 2050 Net Zero targets to fight climate change.”

PozGlass has already been produced and tested — in partnership with various third-party laboratories using industry standards. The positive results have informed Progressive Planet’s decision to begin construction of the PozGlass Pilot Plant. Once the PozGlass production process is proven out at this scale, Progressive Planet plans to find industry partners to finance and build other plants at industrial scale in various locations.

The best locations for industrial scale PozGlass production are at cement kilns in various cities, where PozGlass could be mixed with Portland cement at up to a 50% ratio. Cement kilns create huge amounts of CO₂ and are owned by the companies that market and distribute virtually all legacy cement products through their established networks.

“Progressive Planet operates one of the largest, natural gas-fired, industrial mineral dryers in Canada,” added Harpur. “I’m happy to say that by producing PozGlass at our Kamloops headquarters, we will soon be sequestering CO₂ we currently emit, contributing to British Columbia’s and Canada’s GHG reduction targets.”

The pilot plant is expected to begin construction in 2023 and be operational in 2024.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/08032023/progressive-planet-to-build-first-pilot-plant-to-produce-low-carbon-cement/