The Sault Ste. Marie-based SITTM Technologies has invented some environmentally friendly products it hopes will catch on with contractors and pavers across Northern Ontario.
The company is introducing a suite of spray-on biodiesel-based products that’s applied like a cooking spray for use in commercial paving and concrete projects.
SITTM has developed a concrete form release agent and asphalt release chemicals that they’re marketing as low-VOC (volatile organic compounds), low-toxicity and a highly biodegradeable product that’s a greener alternative to petroleum-based release agents.
In concrete construction, release agents prevent freshly placed concrete from sticking to the forming surface like plywood, steel or aluminum.
The products have been on the market since last June through a distribution deal with OCP Construction Supplies.
“We’re looking to expand to areas outside of Sault Ste. Marie through our distribution partner for our concrete release agent but would like to do it ourselves with asphalt release agent,” said business manager Dennis Murphy, a former mill manager with Weyerhaeuser in Wawa.
To field-test their asphalt release agent, they’ve given samples to some Sault contractors to try it, including Palmer Construction, Ellwood Robinson and Pioneer Construction.
Murphy said they’re getting positive on the asphalt release agent and some companies have become repeat buyers.
“The people who really tell us whether it’s working or not are the truck drivers,” said Murphy. “They spray their truck beds down before putting asphalt in and if it leaves any behind we hear about it.
“When the drivers are happy, we’re happy.”
The concrete release agent comes in a summer and winter formula. Because biodiesel doesn’t like cold weather, SITTM mixes in a secret non-toxic additive to keep it from freezing that’s effective to temperatures of -15 C.
On price, Murphy will only say that their product is “very competitive” when compared to petroleum-based agents.
With the construction and paving season drawing to a close, Murphy anticipates more companies taking a keen interest by spring.
Murphy said compared to water-based release agents, biodiesel works better because it doesn’t dry out on the concrete forms and isn’t washed off by rain.
SITTM was originally founded as a green fuel company intent on building and selling fully automated biodiesel production systems.
That project is on the backburner as the company has shifted its focus toward building a regional customer base for these products and their fuel business.
The company is not yet making biodiesel but is sourcing it from a U.S. supplier and brokering it to area customers like the City of Sault Ste. Marie, the Public Utilities Commission and Wardlaw Fuels.
Murphy said they’re selling about 20 five-gallon pails a week of the concrete release agent and about eight to 10 barrels of the asphalt release agent.
The company is working on other biodiesel-based products such as a non-toxic parts degreaser and a paint remover to remove graffiti.
