KLAW Industries Cements Partnership with City of Binghamton
Since receiving a $50,000 grant in collaboration with Fuzehub and the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator (KSTI), KLAW Industries has partnered with the city of Binghamton. The KSTI member company’s product, Pantheon — a durable, sustainable concrete mix made from recycled glass — will now be used for curb and sidewalk upgrades in the city.
Jacob Kumpon, co-founder and COO of Klaw Industries, said, “For what we’re doing, our product and as a company, it’s a huge validation – not only of the material, but about our process and our ability of our team. We’re really excited about that and couldn’t be happier.”
KLAW Industries locally sources hard-to-recycle glass to make Pantheon, which is both stronger and less environmentally harmful than the cement used to make regular concrete.
“The amount of CO2 we release in our process is only about 3% of that of cement, so we make a huge carbon impact by replacing the cement in the concrete,” Kumpon said.
The partnership with Binghamton furthers the company’s goals to use its new grant money to increase both the amount of glass it can take on and the amount of Pantheon it can deliver.
Binghamton mayor Jared Kraham said the city has already begun to use the cement replacement and has significantly reduced its carbon footprint.
“These are local people, this is a local company,” he said. “The concrete that’s being used results in a 20% less carbon emissions than typical concrete. It’s the same price, as of right now. We’re going to work on getting it even cheaper.”
An active member of the Binghamton-area startup community, KLAW Industries also won $5,000 and entrepreneurial support through the 2021 Binghamton Business Plan Competition.
Looking ahead, KLAW Industries aims to expand beyond Binghamton and bring Pantheon into nearby cities.