On June 29, 2023, Progressive Planet announced that it had signed a purchase agreement with Lafarge Canada Inc. agreeing to purchase all the PozGlass™
KAMLOOPS – CleanTec and manufacturing company, Progressive Planet, announced they recently received up to $4,636,468 in funding to support the construction of a pilot plant to produce PozGlass™, a low-carbon supplementary cementitious material (SCM) derived from post-consumer glass. This funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) covers a four-year period. The first tranche of $1,555,682 was received by Progressive Planet on January 31, 2025.
“PozGlass™ is our solution to reducing the carbon footprint of cement production. This funding allows us to innovate, reduce emissions, and create value from post-consumer glass, a material that has been historically misallocated and considered waste,” said Steve Harpur, CEO of Progressive Planet. “We are grateful for the financial support of SDTC, whose substantial investment is driving this project forward.”
This investment represents a significant milestone in Canada’s push toward decarbonizing the construction industry. Cement production, a key contributor to global CO2 output, currently accounts for over 7% of worldwide emissions. PozGlass™ represents a viable solution by reducing reliance on clinker, the carbon-intensive ingredient in traditional cement, while diverting post-consumer glass from landfills.
“Having the support of SDTC, and Canada’s largest cement company, Lafarge Canada, reinforces that PozGlass™ is a relevant and promising solution to decarbonizing the production of cement,” said Steve Harpur, Progressive Planet CEO.
On June 29, 2023, Progressive Planet announced that it had signed a purchase agreement with Lafarge Canada Inc. agreeing to purchase all the PozGlass™ 100G produced by Progressive Planet’s pilot plant up to a maximum of 3,500 metric tonnes per year.
As part of this 2023 agreement, Lafarge Canada agreed to provide technical guidance and support to Progressive Planet in advancing the proprietary PozGlass™ technology through design, construction, and operation of the pilot plant.
The Kamloops facility will serve as a hub for innovation and production, leveraging Canada’s abundant post-consumer glass supply to scale PozGlass™ for global markets. Unlike traditional SCMs such as fly ash, which face dwindling supply as provinces phase out coal-fired power (1,2), PozGlass™ is made from post-consumer glass – primarily sourced from cities, the very places that are the largest consumers of Portland cement. This proximity to raw materials and end-users ensures PozGlass™ integrates seamlessly into existing cement production processes, offering a scalable and sustainable solution for the industry.
The pilot plant is expected to begin operations in October 2025, marking a key step toward scaling PozGlass™ production and accelerating its adoption across North America and beyond. The first phase of operations includes dry processing of the post-consumer glass to remove all contaminants from the glass while creating the coarse glass powder which is the sole ingredient of PozGlass™.
In Phase 1, Progressive Planet will also make other coarse glass products such as CanBlast™, a crystalline silica-free sand blasting media which Progressive Planet has sold for over a decade, but had it made by a third-party company using post-consumer glass.
Phase Two will involve wet grinding of coarse glass powder to create PozGlass™. Phase 2 construction of the wet grinding facility is expected to be completed in late 2026.
Source: Business Examiner & Progressive Planet
