The goal is to reduce carbon emissions.
Toward that end, city-based O&G Industries is working with a Beacon Falls company that manufacturers a product called “Pozzotive,” made from recycled glass.
The inventors, Lou and Pat Grasso of Urban Mining CT, developed a process to recycle the glass and re-imagine it into a replacement for the fly ash normally used in concrete.
Seth Duke, O&G corporate marketing director, said “A real plus is the recycling of glass and the reduction in carbon emissions of concrete, which is estimated to be 40 percent or more.”
The usage of Pozzotive is a continuation of O&G’s sustainability efforts that include a 4.5-acre solar array at its Southbury quarry, rooftop solar installations in Torrington and Bridgeport, and plant energy efficiency upgrades in Torrington.
Grasso said the development of Pozzotive began over a decade ago “when we were challenged by one of the country’s most prominent architects to make the ordinary gray concrete block much more sustainable.”
The company experimented with different approaches until it came upon the formula for Pozzotive.
“Now that the concept is proven, we’re ready to fully bring the product to market, starting in Connecticut and throughout the region,” Grasso said.
Urban Mining CT has a 16,000-square-foot facility on Breault Road in Beacon Falls. O&G is the first customer for its Connecticut operations, and Pozzotive has already been rolled out at three of O&G’s concrete plants. According to Grasso, the new, larger-scale plant in Connecticut was several years in the development phase.
Grasso said there are a number of challenges in recycling glass that Urban Mining CT was able to solve through product engineering. One of them is spoilage — the amount of product that never makes it back into the recycling loop.
“We developed a product that not only addresses the problem of recycling a very high percentage of glass, but also improves the strength and reduces its carbon footprint of concrete on the back side,” said Duke.
He added integrating Pozzotive into the concrete mix provides a “significant reduction” in carbon emissions.
Grasso said Urban Mining CT is looking at different applications in which the product can be utilized beyond standard concrete. “We see opportunity in other areas within the building industry that have similar applications as concrete,” he said.
Headquartered in Torrington, O&G has facilities throughout Litchfield, Hartford, Fairfield, New Haven and Middlesex counties.
Original Story: Register Citizen (https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/More-sustainable-Torrington-s-O-amp-G-15915070.php)
