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Eco Material Technologies, a Utah-based producer of sustainable cementitious materials and near-zero carbon cement replacement products, has announced an agreement with Georgia Power to harvest millions of tons of landfilled ash from Plant Bowen, one of the largest coal-fired power plants in North America.
Under the agreement, Eco Material will harvest approximately 600,000 tons of landfilled ash per year from the plant in Cartersville, Georgia. The effort will remove and beneficially use more than 9 million tons of ash, with the potential to expand operations to a second location and double annual production to over 1 million tons.
The ash from Plant Bowen will be used in concrete blends to repair and construct bridges, roads and buildings in Georgia as well as throughout the Southeast.
“As the largest partnership of its kind in the U.S., this project will not only use material from landfills and ash ponds but also keep millions of tons of CO2 from going into the atmosphere,” says Grant Quasha, CEO of Eco Material Technologies. “The harvested material will be used in concrete to make stronger and longer-lasting bridges and roads and serve as a model for helping forward-thinking utilities like Georgia Power and Southern Co. close landfills and ash ponds while building a greener and more sustainable planet.”
The material Eco Material is harvesting from Plant Bowen has been proven to enhance the strength, impermeability and durability of concrete. The material will replace approximately 20 percent of carbon-intensive Portland cement in concrete mixes, which accounts for approximately 8 percent of global carbon emissions.
“As concrete manufacturers continue to work to achieve carbon neutrality in production, and power companies seek modern and innovative solutions for beneficial use of coal ash, this voluntary project in Georgia is a model for the industry, directly responding to both market and environmental needs,” says Tom Adams, executive director of the American Coal Ash Association. “With the nationwide focus on improving American infrastructure including roads and bridges, demand for materials continues to outpace available supply, and collaborative projects such as this will be critical to bridging that gap in the future.”
Eco Material is building a new plant onsite to harvest the landfilled ash at Plant Bowen. In addition to construction and other temporary jobs, more than 20 full-time jobs will be created for the operation of the facility.
