New York is building a $21.2 million bridge with recycled glass, 106 tons of waste will become part of the concrete

Discarded glass is becoming a huge issue in the US. Every year, the US produces about 12 million tons of glass, of which about 3 million tons get recycled, while about 9 million tons are dumped in landfills. Latest innovations are trying to address this issue.

For instance, engineers are now building a bridge in Whitney Point, New York, in which they are using discarded glass. The $21.2 million U.S. Route 11 bridge project is incorporating 106 tons of recycled waste glass into the concrete used for the new bridge, sidewalks, curbs, and barriers. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the approach is expected to prevent more than 72 tons of carbon dioxide emissions while keeping glass out of landfills.


The project, which began in June 2024, is one of the larger real-world demonstrations of a technology developed by KLAW Industries, a company founded by engineering students at Binghamton University.

Instead of treating discarded glass as garbage, the company processes it into a fine powder that can partially replace conventional cement in concrete.

The result is called Pantheon.

Turning waste glass into a cement alternative

The basic idea is surprisingly straightforward: take post-consumer glass, remove unwanted materials and process it into a very fine powder.

That powder can then be incorporated into concrete as a partial substitute for cement.

According to the EPA, Pantheon reacts with cement and produces additional crystal structures inside the concrete, helping strengthen the material.

That means the technology is attempting to solve two waste and environmental problems at the same time.

Glass that might otherwise be discarded gets another use, while concrete manufacturers can reduce the amount of cement they need.

And that second part matters because cement is one of the more carbon-intensive components of modern concrete.

The EPA says Pantheon can allow concrete producers to reduce cement use and associated emissions without adding cost.

The idea started with two engineering students

The technology traces back to Jacob Kumpon and Jack Lamuraglia, who saw an opportunity to combine recycled materials with lower-carbon construction.

KLAW Industries received support from the EPA's Small Business Innovation Research program, including an initial $100,000 Phase I award.

The project was titled “Prototyping a Process to Reuse Wasted Glass in High Performance Low Carbon Concrete.”

The company worked with Binghamton-based concrete producer Barney & Dickenson to test the material and demonstrate how it could work in concrete applications.

KLAW later received a Phase II award to continue developing and promoting its cement alternative.

The technology eventually moved beyond laboratory testing.

Pantheon was incorporated into several municipal projects around Binghamton, giving the company an opportunity to demonstrate that recycled glass could become part of everyday infrastructure rather than simply remain an experimental material.

Then came the Whitney Point bridge.

A 1947 bridge is being replaced

The project is replacing the existing U.S. Route 11 bridge over the Tioughnioga River.

The original structure is a three-span steel bridge built in 1947 and has become an important transportation link for the community.

More than 11,000 vehicles travel through the project area each day, with the route providing connections to businesses, recreational facilities, community destinations and major roads including Interstate 81 and state Routes 26, 79 and 206.

But the aging bridge had another problem.

It was on New York State's High-Risk Flood Watch List, meaning the structure required monitoring during periods of high water.

The replacement will use a multi-girder design intended to be more resilient to flooding. Once the work is complete, the new structure is expected to be removed from the state's High-Risk Flood Watch List.

So the project is doing more than simply replacing an aging bridge. It is combining structural upgrades with an experiment in lower-carbon construction.

The recycled glass is going into more than the bridge

Pantheon isn't limited to the bridge deck itself.

The recycled-glass concrete is being used in sidewalks, curbs and barriers on the new bridge, as well as in approximately 1.5 miles of new ADA-compliant sidewalks along both sides of U.S. Route 11.

The project also includes new crosswalks near Whitney Point Middle School and the Broome County Fairgrounds.

A temporary bridge has been constructed alongside the existing structure so pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles can continue moving through the area while construction proceeds.

Work is expected to continue through late 2026.

Why glass and cement make an interesting combination

The scale of the experiment becomes clearer when compared with the amount of glass Americans discard.

An estimated 9 million tons of glass enter U.S. landfills each year, according to the information provided for the project.

Against that figure, diverting 106 tons is obviously a small amount.

But that's not really the point of the Whitney Point project.

The larger question is whether materials normally treated as waste can become reliable inputs for major construction projects.

Glass has already gone through a manufacturing process once. If it can be collected, cleaned and processed into a useful construction material, some of its value can potentially be retained instead of sending it to a landfill.

At the same time, replacing a portion of cement can address the carbon footprint associated with producing conventional concrete.

In other words, the project isn't simply recycling glass.

It is testing whether waste can become part of a new manufacturing cycle.

New York is testing the idea at infrastructure scale

The project also fits into New York's broader push toward lower-carbon construction.

The state introduced its Buy Clean Concrete Guidelines in 2023, encouraging consideration of the emissions associated with construction materials.

For KLAW Industries, the Whitney Point project represents an especially important milestone. According to the EPA, it is the company's largest single-location project and its first state-sponsored project.

KLAW COO Jacob Kumpon has described the project as a turning point for the company — a move beyond the startup stage and toward using its technology in larger infrastructure applications.

For New York, meanwhile, the bridge provides a chance to see whether a waste-derived material can perform in something much more demanding than a laboratory demonstration.